Nutritional needs of numerous plants (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars have been extensively examined, especially responses to N fertilizer, Ca availability in the soil solution, and the use of rhizobium soil inoculum. The nutritional effects of these three factors and their interactions on particular processes at various stages of growth and development of the plant were examined. Three levels of Ca and four N treatments were tested in a greenhouse on two sets of the Valencia C peanut cultivar, one receiving a soil inoculum and the other did not. Nutritional and soil inoculum treatment effects on primary stalk length, flower production, peg and pod development, and nodulation occurrence were statistically examined.

Calcium and N were found to strongly, and independently, influence plant nodulation. Soil inoculation had no influence on flowering, peg or pod production. However, both Ca and N independently influenced these processes. Synergism between Ca and N appeared to influence peg development but not pod development. Additionally, the presence of rhizobium inoculum did not increase pod development. The presence of rhizobium soil inoculum which promoted nodule formation, was not closely related to fruit production but was related to the growth of the aerial portion of the plant.