Randa Almehrez * ⁽¹⁾ and Ali Zedan ⁽¹⁾

(1). Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Tishreen, Latakia, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Randa Almehrez . E-Mail:  randaalmehrez1@gmail.com )

Received: 2/12/2021           Accepted:7/06/2022

Abstract: 

The experiment was carried out in the plant nursery of the Faculty of Agriculture at Tishreen University in 2018-2019 with the aim of studying the effect of foliar fertilization with extracts of three types of local prepared manure plus commercial foliar fertilizer, in securing sufficient level of iron in the tissues of tomato seedlings and comparing its effectiveness in compensating for its deficiency. The study was carried out using the cultivation technique in hydroponic sand cultures using plastic bags (5kg capacity) . The plants’ needs of nutrients were secured through watering with hoagland nutrient solution without iron (-Fe), and four treatments were applied to it, namely (Treatment A: bovine manure extract), (Treatment B: commercial turb extract), (treatment C: poultry extract), (treatment D: commercial foliar fertilizer named Amalgerol), with three replicates for each one. Three weeks after transplanting the seedlings and the beginning of appearing the symptoms of iron deficiency on the leaves of the plants, foliar fertilization with the extracts (spray solutions) started once every two weeks, for three times before harvest, according to the treatments. Colorful pictures were taken periodically to compare the results morphologically to be supported with the necessary chemical analyses. It was found that the plant had taken up its need of the iron element through foliar fertilization, and all the foliar spray treatments, according to their different sources, were able to raise up the level of iron to the limits of sufficiency in the foliar tissues. The values ​​of L.S.D(_0.05) for the differences between the average results of all treatments indicated that, the effects of these treatment sources in increasing the plant tissue content of iron were significant, whether in the leaves or the growing tops, and they were sufficient to cure iron deficiency on the leaves, noting the superiority of the effect of the treatment (C) of the poultry extract on the rest of other treatments and the commercial foliar fertilizer.

Key words:    iron, foliar fertilization, bovine manure extract, turb extract, poultry extract.

Full paper in Arabic:  pdf