No abstract

A direct and secondary effect of liming and organic fertilization on the cadmium content in soil and in vegetables was examined. Celeriac (Apium graveolens L. var. rapaceum) was cultivated in the first year after lime application and organic fertilization whereas leek (Allium ampeloprasum ssp. porrum J. Gay) was grown in the next year. Soil was limed with a calcium carbonate fertilizer at the rate of 2.0 t CaO/ha. The following were applied as organic fertilizers: farmyard manure (60 t/ha), rye straw (4 t/ha), rye and winter vetch, both the plants cultivated as winter catch crops for green manure. Liming significantly reduced the available cadmium content in the soil in the first and second year after its application. Also, it significantly reduced the cadmium content in celeriac and leek compared with no-liming cultivation. Organic fertilization, especially farmyard manure and straw, significantly reduced the soil available cadmium content as compared to the untreated control (without organic fertilization). The aforementioned factor significantly reduced the cadmium content in the examined vegetables. Cadmium lowest content in celeriac leaves and leek was recorded after the application of farmyard manure. A combined application of liming and organic fertilization in the form of farmyard manure most beneficially influenced celeriac leaves with respect to their cadmium content.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of weather components (air temperature, precipitation) on the growth, yield and the length of the growing season of sweet corn cultivated in eastern Poland. The results come from a field experiment conducted in 2006-2011. Weather conditions in the successive years of the study significantly modified the yield of ears, weight and number of formatted ears, high of plants and the length of the growing season of sweet corn. Good yielding of sweet corn favoured years with moderate air temperatures in July and uniform distribution of precipitation during the growing season. The highest yield of ears was found in 2011, the lowest in the very difficult in terms of weather 2006. The shortest growing season was characterized corn grown in the years 2006 and 2010 with the high air temperatures in July and August, the longest in the years 2009 and 2011, in which the temperatures in the period June-August were the lowest of all the years of research. Irrespective of the year of study, cv 'Sheba F 1 ' was formatted eras with higher weight than cv 'Sweet Nugget F 1 '.

The experiment investigated the effect of different irrigation methods (no irrigation, irrigation by means of a drip tape) and method of AgroHydroGel application (control, AgroHydroGel applied to seedlings, AgroHydroGel applied to plants in the field, half of the AgroHydroGel applied to seedlings, the other half to plants in the field) on the yield level and quality of celeriac grown in the field. Irrigation significantly increased yields as well as the average weight of the marketable root; however, it had no influence on the nutrient contents. The application of AgroHydroGel to plants in the field or in a split proportion resulted in the most favourable influence on yielding. In the non-irrigated combination, AgroHydroGel applied entirely to plants in the field or in a split proportion increased marketable root yields. In the irrigated treatments, the highest yield was obtained in the plots where hydrogel was applied to plants in the field. Roots from the treatments where AgroHydroGel had been applied in a split proportion contained more dry matter as compared to the control. In the non-irrigated combination, AgroHydroGel applied entirely to plants in the field and in a split proportion increased ascorbic acid content. Simultaneously, irrigation and hydrogel application in a split proportion increased total sugar content as compared to the plants in which the hydrogel was only applied to the seedlings.

The experiment was carried out in 2007–2009. The investigated factors were: the kind of covers – without covering (control object), perforated foil with 100 holes per 1m2, polypropylene fibre weighing 17 g m−2 and broad beans cultivars – ‘Windsor Biały’, ‘Bizon’ and ‘Bachus’. Broad bean seeds were sown at the beginning of the second 10-days of April, at a spacing of 50 × 10 cm. Directly after, sowing field was covered by covers, which were left for 3 weeks. Broad bean was harvested in the stage of milky maturity of seeds. Before the harvest, the number of pods per plant was determined. During the harvest, the weight of pods and the yield of fresh seed were determined and productivity of seed from the weight of pods was calculated. Biometric parameters of pods and seeds i.e. length of pods, the number of seeds in the pod and length, width and thickness of seed was performed. It was found that the broad bean covering contributed to increase yield and improvement of the biometric parameters of pods and seeds compared to the control object without covering. The highest yield of pods and seeds produced cv ‘Bizon’. The best yield was obtained from plants covered by polypropylene fibre. The seeds of cultivated cultivars were characterized by similar parameters. Polypropylene fibre covering favoured formation of pods and seeds in the pods but did not cause changes in the seeds parameters.