Biological nutrition of tissue cultured barhi date palm off shoots in comparison with chemical nutrition

Abstract EN

Different biological nutrition types i.

e.

Spirulina platensis algae extract and biostimulant EM1 in comparison with chemical nutrition NPK (Atanor fertile 19).

These nutrition types were added with two methods of application i.

e.

spraying on the leaves at the rate of 20 ml/L water, 25 ml/ L water, and 4gm/L water respectively or injected in the soil with duplicating the concentrations (40, 50 ml/L water or 8 gm/L water respectively) of each nutrition type on the Barhi offshoots which derived from two propagation sources (tissue culture & seed sources) were evaluated either alone or in combinations.

It is found that biostimulant EM1 as nutrition type surpassed others in increasing of leaf number, leaf length and shoot thickness parameters of Barhi offshoots.

Also, Soil injection of different nutrition types is preferred than spray application in improving leaf number, shoot length, shoot thickness parameters as well as increasing leaf mineral contents & leaf pigments of Barhi offshoots.

Moreover, using different propagation sources (seed or tissue culture derived from Barhi offshoots) had no significant effect on growth parameters and leaf pigments as well as leaf mineral contents.

Furthermore, the combined treatment of injection EM1 or Spirulina platensis algae extract in the soil of the seed propagated- offshoots induced improvements in most growth parameters, chloropyll-b, beta carotene C, and total carbohydrates % as well as some leaf mineral content mainly N, K, Mg.