SEX EXPRESSION RESPONSE OF SPINACH AS AFFECTED BY BIOFERTILIZER AND GA3 APPLICATION AND ITS RELATION TO YIELD, QUALITY AND SEED PRODUCTION | ||||
| Journal of Plant Production | ||||
| Article 12, Volume 28, Issue 10, October 2003, Page 7375-7394 PDF (5.92 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jpp.2003.245258 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| M. A. Abd EI-Fattah,1; Mervat E. Sorial2; M. A. Wahb-Allah1 | ||||
| 1Dept. of Vegetable Crops, Faculty of Agric., Alexandria University. | ||||
| 2Dept. of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufiya University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The main objective of this study was to determine the response of sex expression and yield as well as its quality characteristics 0 f spinach, in relation to planting date, biofertilizer and GA3 treatments. Two field experiments were carried out during 2001/2002 and 2002/ 2003 winter seasons at the Agricultural Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, to investigate the effects of planting date (October and December) and the application of biofertilizer (Halex2) and/or GA3 spray (25 ppm) as well as their interaction on vegetative growth, sex expression, chemical composition, yield of fresh leaves and its quality and seed production of spinach plant, cv. Saloniky. The obtained results revealed that: 1- Sowing spinach seeds early in October significantly increased plant height, photosynthetic pigments and total sugar contents of leaves and seed yield and its quality, compared with the late planting date (in December). On the other hand, no significant differences were detected in number and area of spinach leaves, nitrogen content and C/N ratio, endogenous phytohormones and yield of fresh leaves and its quality, due to planting date. 2- Inoculation of spinach seeds with biofertilizer was more pronounced for almost studied characters, such as vegetative growth, chemical composition and yield of fresh leaves and its quality, than GA3 and control treatments. In addition, biofertilizer significantly enhanced both cytokinin and ethylene contents and reduced GA3 content of leaves. 3- Biofertilizer inoculation significantly increased also the number of vegetative male, female and monoecious spinach plants and reduced the number of extreme male plants which was significantly increased with GAJ spraying. Sex expression response to biofertilizer and/or GA3, in relation to endogenous hormone changes was also discussed. 4- The correlation coefficient studies confirmed the relationships between sex expression and total yield of spinach as well as its quality characteristics, in relation to the effect of biofertilizer and/or GAJ application, at both planting dates. 5-0n the other hand, the results revealed that GA3 is needed beside biofertilizer inoculation in order to increase seed production of spinach and to improve its quality, under either early (October) or late (December) planting dates. 6- It can be recommended the use of biofertilizer (Halex2) for spinach production to reduce the mineral NPK-fertilizers and to increase the yield of fresh leaves and its quality, and the use of GA3 beside' biofertilizer to increase seed yield and its quality. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Spinach; Sex expression; Planting date; Biofertilizer; GA3 | ||||
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