Effects of Cultivars and the Spraying with seaweed extract (Tecamin Algae ) in the growth and yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in one of the plastic houses belonging to Department of Horticulture and Landscaper Gardening, College of Agriculture, University of Diyala during the cultivation season of (2015, 2016) to study the effect of the cultivars (Paris, ashbilia, Barshelona), the spraying with different concentrations of seaweed extract (0, 0.75, 1 ml.L-1) and the interaction between them on the growth and yield of eggplant. A factorial experiment was conducted according to the Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D), with three replicates. The results showed that the Paris cultivar was significantly excelled in all traits of the vegetative growth and yield, which included plant height (52.99 cm), number of leaves(40.57 leaf.plant-1), leaf area (292.49 cm2), plant stem diameter (1.21 cm), the percentage of chlorophyll (49.64 %), as well as the yield traits which included the length of fruit (13.85 cm), Fruit diameter (5.7), weight of fruit (151.14) and the early yield for the plant (4460.30 g). The spraying with seaweed extract at concentration of (1 ml.L-1) achieved the highest averages for the traits of the vegetative growth which included Plant height (60.07 cm), number of leaves (43.08), leaves area (303.41 cm2), plant stem diameter (1.32), the percentage of Chlorophyll (50.77 %), as well as the yield traits which included fruit length (14.24 cm), Fruit diameter (6.10 cm), the weight of fruit (162.25 g) and the early yield for the plant (4666.30 g). As for the interaction between the spraying treatment with seaweed extract at a concentration of (1 ml.L-1) and Barshelona cultivar, this interaction had excelled in all the studied traits that mentioned above.