Effect of different types of fertilization on morphological characters and chemical constituents of three cultivars of hibiscus rosa-sinensis plants

Abstract EN

The experimental trail was performed throughout two successive seasons (2013 and 2014) with the aim of improving growth and quality of three Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivars (red flowers “San Diego”, yellow flowers “Butterfly” and orange flowers “Peach Schnapps”).

Thus, the effect of three types of fertilization with different levels and some combinations with them, Lithovit (Nano-fertilizer), Diatoms (Algae-fertilizer) and Kristalon (NPK 19:19:19 and micro-elements) on the three cultivars were investigated in both seasons.

The results emphasized that Hibiscus cv.

San Diego was the best cultivar used for its superiority in producing the tallest plant, the heaviest fresh weight of vegetative growth, the highest number of flowers/plant, and the heaviest fresh weight of roots.

Meanwhile Peach Schnapps cv.

gave the highest number of leaves/plant, whereas, Butterfly cv.

produced the highest number of branches/plant.

On the other side, supplying plants with Kristalon alone or combined with fertilizers proved its superiority in improving plant parameters in most cases.

The highest records of number of leaves/plant or number of branches/plant were a result of supplying plants with Kristalon at 2 g/pot.

Meanwhile, the heaviest fresh weight of vegetative growth and the highest number of flowers/plant were a result of applying Kristalon at 4 g/pot.

Similarly, the combination of Diatoms at 100 cm3 /pot + Kristalon at 2 g/pot succeeded in producing the tallest plant and the highest number of branches/plant.

Meanwhile, supplying plants with Diatoms at 200 cm3 /pot was the best treatment for producing the heaviest fresh weight of roots.

Chemical constituents of the plants were also affected by the different Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivars and fertilizer treatments.

Peach Schnapps cv.

recorded the highest value of N% in leaves, Butterfly cv.

was the best for raising P and K% in leaves.

Furthermore, the highest N% in leaves was a result of supplying plants with Diatoms at either 100 or 200 cm3 /pot or Kristalon at 4 g/pot or the combination of Diatoms at 100 cm3 /pot + Kristalon at 2 g/pot.

Moreover, supplying plants with Diatoms at 50 or 200 cm3 /pot or the combination of Diatoms at 100 cm3 /pot + Kristalon at 2 g/pot caused a clear increment in P% in leaves.

Meanwhile, treating plants with Lithovit at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 g/l or Kristalon 4g/pot gave the highest values of K% in leaves.

Additionally, either Hibiscus cv.

Peach Schnapps or cv.

San Diego were the best cultivars in raising total carbohydrates (%) in the leaves.

Also, treating plants with the combination of Diatoms at 100 cm3 /pot + Kristalon at 2 g/pot was the best treatment in raising total carbohydrates (%) in leaves.

From the above outlined results it could be recommended to supply plants with Kristalon at 2 or 4 g/pot or with the combination of Diatoms at 100 cm3 /pot + Kristalon at 2 g/pot to achieve the hope of producing Hibiscus rosa-sinensis plants with high quality.