Effect of Different Sowing Dates on Disease Initiation and Development of Roselle (&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Hibiscus sabdariffa&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; L.) Leaf Spot Disease Caused by &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Coniella musaiensis&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Var. &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;hibisci&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; in Makurdi, Central Nigeria

K D Apeyuan,O A H Oluma,A O Nwankiti,E J Ekefan

doi:10.4236/gep.2017.511007

Abstract

The experiment was conducted mainly to investigate the effect of change in sowing dates on disease severity of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L) leaf spot caused by Coniella musaiensis Var hibisci, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits and calyx yield of Roselle (H. sabdariffa L). Five dates were selected with an interval of fourteen days (14) between the dates for two years (2003 and 2004) to determine the most appropriate time to sow the crop using two Roselle accessions; green (Acc1) and red (Acc3).The first date was determined by the establishment of the rains in the season. It was observed that change in sowing dates had significant (p = 0.05) effect on disease severity but not on plant height, number of branches, number of fruits and calyx yield. Plants sown on July 18/27 had lowest disease indices; and are thus the best and therefore recommended for cropping of Roselle.

Highlights

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) locally called “ashwe” is an important vegetable crop in Nigeria
The experiment was conducted mainly to investigate the effect of change in sowing dates on disease severity of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L) leaf spot caused by Coniella musaiensis Var hibisci, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits and calyx yield of Roselle (H. sabdariffa L)
It was observed that change in sowing dates had significant (p = 0.05) effect on disease severity but not on plant height, number of branches, number of fruits and calyx yield

Summary

Introduction

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) locally called “ashwe” is an important vegetable crop in Nigeria. Most varieties are used as ornamental plants, but the swollen red calyces of the sabdariffa type are dried and used in the production of a drink called zoboin Nigeria [4]. It has been demonstrated that roselle extract decreases the rate of absorption of alcohol and is a favorite remedy for the effect of drunkenness [1] It is useful in bilious conditions, heart and nervous diseases [10]. There are reports where some plants diseases have been avoided to a large extent by adjusting sowing time With this in view, five different sowing dates were scheduled for the study in order to determine the most appropriate date for planting Roselle in order to escape or limit the attack by Coniella musaiensis var hibisci

Field Preparation and Planting

Data Collection

Result

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion