Foliar fertilization of micronutrients on the performance of zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo) under the Old Meghna Estuarine Floodplain of Bangladesh

Abstract

Zucchini squash is a popular vegetable linked to many health benefits. Micronutrients although used in a small quantity, play a significant role for optimal plant growth and development however, little is known about foliar feedings of micronutrients on this crop. Therefore, the current research was conducted during 2020 to evaluate foliar micronutrient treatments viz., boron (B), zinc (Zn), silicon (Si), chlorine (Cl), and their combination on growth and yield-related attributes of ‘zucchini squash cv. Surma F:‘. The 12 micronutrient treatments were untreated control, 0.2% boron, 0.2% ZnSO4, 0.2% SiO2, 0.2% NaCl, 0.2% boron + 0.2% ZnSO4, 0.2% boron + 0.2% SiO2, 0.2% boron + 0.2% NaCl, 0.2% ZnSO4 + 0.2% SiO2, 0.2% ZnSO4 + 0.2% NaCl, 0.2% SiO2 + 0.2% NaCl, and mixture of 0.2% boron + 0.2% ZnSO4 + 0.2% SiO2 + 0.2% NaCl. Eight out of 16 parameters viz., stem length (38.94 cm), stem diameter (3 cm), number of leaves (25.64), length of the largest leaf (30.24 cm), length of plant canopy (133.65 cm), number of marketable fruits (6.54), yield plot−1 (18.76 kg) and total yield ha−1 (46.89 tons) was meaningfully influenced with the foliar spray of the treatments whereas the combination of 0.2% boron and 0.2% ZnSO4 was found to relatively be better regarding growth and yield-related attributes of zucchini squash. The results suggest that foliar spray of micronutrients might play significant role in zucchini production.