Effects of fertilizer on morphological traits in Aloe vera

Abstract

This experiment was conducted at the Institute of National Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Iran to evaluate the effect of different amount of fertilizers on the leaf and plant characteristics as well as yield of Aloe vera. There were 6 different treatments viz., T1 = 100% soil (control), T2 = 100 PK (50% P + 50% K), T3 = 50% K + 50% soil, T4 = 50% N + 50% soil, T5 = 150% NPK (50% N + 50% P + 50% K, T6 = 50% P + 50% soil. It was observed that the plant produced highest mature leaf length and number of tillers plant -1 and maximum leaf weight, as well as weight of largest leaves with application of 50% P+ 50% K (T2). Different plant characters such as mature leaf breadth and breadth of the largest leaf was also found to be highest with T5 treatment over control (100% soil). The number of leaves was also significantly affected by different fertilizer treatments where maximum effect was noticed at early stages with T4 (50% N). It was revealed that T3 had a little effect on number of leaves ofA. vera over chemical fertilizer. Key words: Aloe vera, fertilizer, morphological traits, leaf growth.