The Influence of Foliar Application of Biostimulant Atonik and Different Sources of Potassium on Full Sun and Partial Shade Salvia farinacea Plants

Abstract

N UTRITION and some environmental variables play a major role in the growth and development of ornamental plants. Two pot experiments were carried out in a randomized complete block design to study the effect of foliar application of biostimulator agent (Atonik, 0.2%) and different sources of potassium viz. potassium sulphate (2g/L), potassium citrate (2g/L) and potassium humate (3g/L) on growth parameters and chemical constituents of Salvia farinacea plants grown under full sun and/or partial shade conditions (50 % shade) during 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. Foliar application of atonic and different sources of potassium enhanced growth, chlorophyll, total carbohydrates and mineral contents of plants grown in both environments. Under full sun, spraying plants with K humate gave the highest number of leaves and inflorescences as well as the highest biomass of fresh and dry leaves, while under partial shade, spraying plants with K citrate + atonik gave the highest values of these traits. Foliar application of K citrate + atonik gave the highest values of fresh and dry weight of inflorescences in both environments. Plants grown under partial shade conditions were superior in plant height and individual leaf area, while those grown under open field conditions were superior in stem diameter, number of leaves, branches, roots and inflorescences per plant, fresh and dry weight of leaves, stems, roots and inflorescences per plant as well as chlorophyll, total carbohydrates and mineral contents.

Effect of Foliar Application of Different Potassium Forms on the Growth and Flowering of Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) Plants

“…On the other hand, control treatment had the lowest values of dry weights of plant and root with significant differences between control and other treatments in both seasons. These results are in accordance with those obtained by El-Gamal (2015) and Heikal (2017).…”

“…On the other hand, control treatment had the lowest values of fresh weight / plant or root fresh weight with significant differences between control and other treatments in both seasons. These findings are in agreement with those obtained by Yassen et al, (2010) and Heikal (2017). Table 3 Shyala et al, (2019) who found that potassium application increased dry weight per plant as compared with control.…”

“…affecting flower weight, and increase dry matter accumulation (Hasanuzzaman et al, (2018)In this respect, Abbadi et al, (2008) stated that flowers increased with increasing K supply. Also, Heikal (2017) and Shah et al, (2018) reported that potassium nitrate, citrate and humate had a positive impact on increasing fresh and dry weight of flowers. Means within a column having the same letters are not significantly differences according to Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT).…”

“…These findings are in line with those of El-Gamal (2015) on Calendula officinalis and Shyala et al, (2019) on Tagetes erecta plants. In this regard, Heikal (2017) reported that Salvia farinacea sprayed with potassium sulphate at 2 g/l, potassium citrate at 2 g/l and potassium humate at 3 g/l gave the higher number of branches/plant than that on control treatment; and also concluded that potassium citrate gave the best results in this respect as compared with the other potassium sources.…”

Growth Control of Hibiscus Pot Plants by Foliar Spraying With Paclobutrazol and Two Sources of Potassium

“…Many authors proved the positive effects of potassium humate e.g. Heikal (2017) on Salvia farinacea, Shyala et al (2019) on Tagetes erecta, Noor El-Deen and El-Ashwah (2019) on Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyerii', Badran et al (2019) on Calendula officinalis and Mohamed and Ghatas (2021) on Achillea millefolium.…”