Peculiarities of the influence of fertilizer and foliar feeding systems on the growth and development of potato plants

Abstract

The research involved the studying the impact of different fertilization systems, which were balanced among themselves in terms of nutrients with foliar application of liquid organic-mineral fertilizers, on the growth processes of potato plants. The research methodology included the study of the following indicators: the number of stems, plants height, leaf surface formation. The research was carried out during 2014–2017 on the basis of the experimental plot of the Polissia National University. The experimental design involved the study of four fertilization options with the application of liquid organic-mineral fertilizers «Mochevyn K №1», «Mochevyn K No 2», «Organic D2M» and «Humate potassium» in the form of foliar application. As a result of the research it was found that plant development improves in variants with fertilizers application the number of stems increased from 61 to 84 stems on average over the years of the study, in particular under the organic fertilization system compared to the biological control. The use of liquid organic-mineral fertilizers (LOMF) contributed to an increase in the number of stems in the ranged from 66 to 89 compared to the biological control. Plant height analysis by development phases: mass budding, mass flowering and the end of flowering showed that fertilizers application had a positive effect on the increase in plant height, in particular under different fertilization systems plants height in the phase of the end of flowering increased from 6.2 to 8 cm. LOMF application contributed to an increase in plant height by 6.9–10.2 cm compared to the biological control. The highest indicators of the potato leaf surface area on average over the years of the study were formed in the phase of full emergence under the organic-mineral fertilization system – 5.01 thousand m2/ha and mineral fertilization systems, where this indicator was 4.98 thousand m2/ha. Foliar application of LOMF had a positive effect on the formation of the leaf surface area under the organic-mineral system of fertilization and the combined application of «Humate potassium» and «Organic D2M» and provided variability within 5.07 thousand m2/ha and 5.04 thousand m2/ha respectively. During the flowering phase the leaf surface area of potato plants under different fertilization systems increased by 7.1–10.3 thousand m2 /ha compared to the absolute control variant. The joint combination of fertilization systems and LOMF during the flowering phase increased the leaf surface area by 9.08–12 thousand m2 /ha. Key words: fertilization system, liquid organic-mineral fertilizers, potatoes, leaf surface area.