1*Hameda El Sayed Ahmed El Say
Abstract
Two field trials were conducted on garlic (Allium sativum, L. Cv. Sids - 40) in the vegetable private farm at Kafr Meet Faris, Dakahlia Governorate, during 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons to study potassium-fertilizer levels at 0, 24, 48, 72 or 96 kg K2O/fed, mepiquat chloride (pix) at 0, 250 and 500 ppm as a foliar application at and their interactions on the plant growth, yield and its quality, chemical constituents of plant foliage and bulbs as well as storability during the storage period (9 months). The obtained results could be summarized as follows: In general, garlic plants received K-levels better than those of the unfertilized ones. most studied characteristics of garlic plants were significantly increased with increasing K-levels from 0 up to 96 kg K2O/fed. Besides, the most interesting observation was the increasing of the storability by 96 kg K2O/fed in both seasons. Moreover, this treatment significantly increased concentration of N, P, K, TSS and volatile oils in cloves comparing with those of the other treatments. On the other hand, foliar application of pix at 250 or 500 ppm significantly reduced plant height. However, increasing the applied pix level from 0 to 500 ppm significantly increased number of leaves, leaf area, and plant dry weight and bulbing ratio as well as total yield, bulb weight and diameter and clove weight. However, total weight loss, sprouting and decay percentage of bulbs were significantly reduced at the end of the storage period. The combined treatments of K2O levels and pix were generally more effective than with single ones. The best results were obtained by using 96 kg K2O/fed with foliar application of pix at 500 ppm. Therefore, this treatment could be recommended for raising garlic yield and improving bulb quality during the storage period under similar conditions to this work.