EFFECT OF SOIL AND FOLIAR POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION ON CANTALOUPE PLANT GROWTH IN SANDY SOIL

Document Type : Researches

Authors

Dept. Plant Prod. (Veg.), Fac. Environ. Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., Egypt.

Abstract

This study was carried out on cantaloupe plants (cv ‘Gal152’ (during the winter seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to study the effect of three soil applications of K2SO4 rates (100%, 75%, and 50%of recommended potassium requirements) and spraying four foliar potassium sources (potassium silicate, potassium citrate, potassium acetate, potassium thiosulphate, and tap water spray as control treatment). Transplanting was done on 25th December under low plastic tunnels in sandy soil The soil 100% K + foliar potassium silicate recorded the highest cantaloupe vegetative growth traits. The highest plant fresh weight was recorded by the interaction treatment of soil application at 50% of recommended K + foliar k-Acetate in the first season, while the highest values in the second season were recorded with soil 100% K +foliar K citrate without significant differences than 50% of recommended K + foliar k-Acetate. The highest plant dry weight was recorded by applying soil 75% recommended K + foliar application of K-silicate and 100 of soil K + foliar K silicate in the first season and soil 50% of recommended K + foliar K acetate without significant differences than soil application of 75% recommended K + foliar K silicate in the second season. The highest leaf pigments were recorded by the interaction of soil 100% of recommended potassium + foliar citrate potassium application in all studied traits, except chlorophyll a at 75 days after transplanting and carotenoids content at 50 and 75 days after transplanting.

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