Effect of foliar application of seaweed extract and cytokinin on growth and yield of cauliflower plant (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis )

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the research station of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape - College of Agriculture - Tikrit University for the 2019-2020 season, to study the effect of spraying organic fertilizer (seaweed extract) and growth regulator (cytokinin) on the growth and yield of the cauliflower plant. The experiment included two factors: spraying seaweed extract in three levels, (S0) 0 ml l-1 as a control, (S1) 3.3 ml l-1, (S2) 6.6 ml l-1. The second factor was spraying cytokinin in three levels: (G0) 0 mg l-1 as a control, (G1) 10 mg l-1, (G2) 40 mg l-1. The experiment was carried out according to the Randomized Complete Block Design R.C.B.D with three replications and the averages were compared according to Duncan's multiple range tests at a probability level of 5%.The results showed that spraying seaweed extract (S2) increased the percentage of phosphorus, potassium and boron significantly compared with all other treatments. Meanwhile, the application of cytokinin did not affect significantly on all the studied characteristics. The interaction traetments caused significant effect in fresh weight of leaf, phosphorus%, and potassium% with S0G0, S2G2, and S2G0 respectively compared with S2G0, S0G0, and S0G2 treatments which had the lowest values for previous characteristics respectively.