Abstract
Copper (Cu) contamination in soils is becoming a serious problem. Therefore, an experiment in plastic pots was carried out to investigate interactive influence of rice straw BC (BC
0
:0, BC
1
:5, and BC
2
:10% w/w) and nitrogen fertilizer (N
0
:0, N
1
:140, N
2
:280, and N
3
:420 kg ha
−
1
) on plant growth, Cu mobility and phytoavailability to Boehmeria nivea in Cu polluted soil. Results revealed that BC × N fertilizer had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the growth of B. nivea in terms of biomass, height of plant, diameter of stem and number of leaves. Furthermore, BC × N fertilizer resulted in significant changes in pH, electrical conductivity and cation exchange capacity of soil after harvesting in comparison with control. However, the influence of BC × N fertilizer on soil extractable Cu and Cu uptake by plant varied with levels of N fertilizer. The BC
2
N
1
treatment significantly increased the shoot biomass of B. nivea by 635% (fresh biomass) and 452% (dry biomass), but reduced Cu contents in roots, stems and leaves i.e., 52, 23 and 34 mg kg
−
1
, respectively. Thereby, high dose of BC along with low N fertilizer could be considered as an efficient soil amendment combination for Cu stabilization and higher biomass production of B. nivea in highly Cu contaminated soil.