THE EFFECT OF SOAKING WITH ATONIC, INOCULATION WITH BIO FERTILIZERS AND ORGANIC FERTILIZATION WITH WATER HYACINTHS COMPOST ON SOME GROWTH INDICATORS OF TUBEROSE PLANT (POLIANTHES TUBEROSA L.)

Abstract

The factorial experiment was conducted in green canopy of Department of Horticulture and Garden Engineering - College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences- University of Baghdad, for the spring season of 2022, to study the effect of soaking Polianthes tuberosa L. bulbs in Atonic solution and inoculation with bacterial biofertilizer Stenotrophomonas malophilia and fungal biofertilizer Glomus mosseae, along with the addition of two levels (3% and 4%) of water hyacinths compost (C:N=17) on some vegetative and floral growth traits of Peral variety of tuberose. The study was conducted using a randomized completely block design with three replicates. Tuberose bulbs were planted in black plastic bags containing 6 kg of a sandy loam soil. The total number of experimental units was 72, with each experimental unit containing 5 plants, resulting in a total of 360 plants in the experiment. The results showed that soaking the bulbs for 12 hours in Atonic before planting, as well as inoculation with biofertilizers and organic fertilization, led to a significant increase in all the studied vegetative and floral growth traits of this plant. The results of the triple interaction between the study factors showed the superiority of the treatment involving soaking with Atonic, inoculation with the biofertilizer combination, and fertilization with a 4% level of water hyacinths compost, significantly affecting the carbohydrate content, iron and manganese concentration in the leaves, fresh Peduncle weight, number of florets per plant   and the number of bulbs. The recorded values were 4.271%, 549.7 mg kg-1 dry weight, 73.0 mg kg^-1 dry weight, 126.70 g, and 55.33 flower plant^-1, and 17 bulbs plant^-1, respectively.