Mixture Of Peat Moss Research Articles

Supplementary Foliar Applications and Their Effect on the Agronomic Behavior of Strawberry in a Vertical System

Aims: The objective was to evaluate the agronomic behavior of the strawberry crop under supplementary foliar applications in a vertical system.
 Study Design: The experimental design used in each test was the completely randomized experimental model with six treatments and four repetitions each. The treatments were Control, Estimulante plus®, AeroBiot®, BasfoliarAktiv®, Basfoliar PS® and HPLS.
 Place and Duration of Study: The research was carried out under a greenhouse in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. From October 20, 2019 to February 20, 2020.
 Methodology: The San Andreas strawberry variety was used, the vertical system consisted of 4” PVC tubes, 1.2 m long, with 5 cm diameter perforations, a mixture of peat moss and perlite was used as substrate in a ratio 70:30 %. The foliar applications were carried out every week, stimulant plus®, AeroBiot®, Basfoliar Activ® and HPLS were at a rate of 2 ml L-1, Basfoliar PS® was at a rate of 2 g L-1, the control was only distilled water.
 Results: The foliar application of AeroBiot® statistically improved the average weight of the fruit and exceeded the control by 16.7 %, the length of the fruit was statistically similar between the applications of BasfoliarActiv®, AeroBiot®, Basfoliar PS® and HPLS, the rest of the variables showed a similar statistical behavior.
 Conclusion: The agronomic performance of strawberry cultivation in a vertical system was similar between supplementary foliar applications of products containing macro and microelements, amino acids and protein hydrolysates, while worm leachates such as AeroBiot® improve the average weight of the fruit.

Mangifera indica TREE AS A NEW POT PLANT

This work was carried out during two successive seasons of 2019 and 2020 in the Experimental lathe house of Horticulture Dept., Faculty of Agric., Benha university, Kalubia Governorate, Egypt to study the effect of paclobutrazol (0.0, 50, 100 and 150 ppm), and chemical fertilization (0.0, 4, 6 and 8g/pot) treatments on growth, fruiting and chemical composition of potted mango cv. Keitt. Uniform seedlings of mango were planted on February 1st 2019 and 2020 in 40 cm plastic pots containing 1:1 mixture of peat moss and compost. Obtained results showed that, the shortest plants were recorded by un-fertilized plants and sprayed with PP333 at 150 ppm in the two seasons. The highest value of plant width and show value were recorded by 150 ppm PP333-sprayed plants enriched with NPK fertilization at 8 g/ plant in the two seasons. 150 ppm PP333-sprayed plants supplemented with NPK fertilization at 8 g/ plant treatment scored the highest number of fruits / plant and the heaviest mean fruit fresh weigh. The heaviest roots fresh and dry weights was scored by 150 ppm PP333 combined with NPK fertilization at 8 g/ plant treatment in the two seasons. The richest leaf N, P, K and total carbohydrates % was scored by 150 ppm PP333 combined with NPK fertilization at 8 g/ plant in the two seasons.

A New Aspect for In vitro Propagation of Jerusalem Artichoke and Molecular Assessment Using RAPD, ISSR and SCoT Marker Techniques

JERUSALEM artichoke is an important crop for a wide range of agricultural, medicinal and industrial purposes. Its tubers are rich in inulin and it is cultivated for food and animal feed. The current study aimed to develop an applicable protocol for micropropagation of three cultivars of Jerusalem artichoke (i.e., Balady, Fuza and Alba) using stem node explants. These explants were cultured on ½ MS medium augmented with different concentrations of kanamycin or cefotaxime. The lowest contamination correlated with highest survival percentages were recorded for ½ MS supplemented with 62.5mg L-1 cefotaxime. For shoot multiplication, the maximum number of shoots (11) were obtained for Alba cultivar cultured on MS fortified with 1mg L-1 BA + 0.1mg L-1 NAA + 50mg L-1 nano selenium. For rooting in vitro, the maximum values of rooting percent, root numbers/plantlet and length of roots were observed with ½ MS + 2mg L-1 IBA + 0.1mg L-1 NAA + 0.5mg L-1 KIN. Resulted in vitro regenerated plantlets, were acclimatized on perlite and peat moss mixture (1:1), which gave the highest percent of survival (100%) for Alba followed by Fuza and Balady (80 and 60%, respectively). Moreover, the molecular characterization based on RAPD, ISSR and SCoT techniques was carried out. The polymorphic percentages among in vivo shoots of the three cultivars recorded 38.09, 42.3 and 34.61%, respectively; 61.53, 67.8 and 50% between in vivo shoots, in vitro regenerates and stem derived calli of the three cultivars. The dendrogram analysis of combined techniques showed high similarity between Balady and Fuza followed by Alba.

First report of Sclerotinia blight caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on Pinellia ternata in China.

Pinellia ternata is a perennial herb that belongs to the Araceae Family. The tuber of the P. ternata plant contains active ingredients such as alkaloids and pinellia starch, and can be used as a Chinese medicine for antineoplastic and anti-inflammatory disorders in humans (Marki et al. 1987). In April 2019, lesions with rotting were observed during the flowering phase on spathes of P. ternata in a field in Qianjiang City (30°50'N, 112°92'E), Hubei Province, which is one of the main production areas of P. ternata in China. Approximately 10% of P. ternata plants were symptomatic. The initial symptoms of infection were reddish-brown lesions, followed by the appearance of white cottony mycelia. Subsequently, lesions became gray-brown, and rotted with white mycelium that eventually formed on the lesions after 2 to 3 days. In the later phases, spathes were completely rotted and mycelia began to spread to the stems, until the plant wilted and died. Ten spathes at the initial stage of infection were collected in Zhugentan Town, Qianjiang City disinfested with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min and 75% alcohol for 20 sec, then washed with sterile distilled water three times, dried, and placed on Petri plates with potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 22℃ for two days. Six fungal isolates were obtained and purified by hyphal tip isolation in fresh culture, respectively. Culture media was covered with white hyphae after 3 to 4 days of incubation, and dark-gray, rough, irregular sclerotia (1.5 to 5.5 mm in length × 1.0 to 3.5 mm in width) formed on the margins of the media, followed by the melanization as the culture aged. Eventually, black sclerotia were formed and wrapped by white hyphae. All isolates were preliminarily identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lazarovits et al. 2000). To further identify the pathogens, molecular identification was performed with one of the six isolates (BXH1). Polymerase chain reaction was performed with primers ITS1/ITS4 for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (White et al. 1990) and primers SSasprF/SSasprR for the aspartyl protease gene (Abd-Elmagid et al. 2013). BLAST search analysis revealed that the 456-bp ITS sequence (GenBank MT436756.1) was ≥99% similar to S. sclerotiorum (MT177216.1, MN105884.1, MG931017.1, etc.), and the 173-bp aspartyl protease gene sequence (GenBank MT584031.1) was too (MK028159.1, MK028161.1, AF271387.1, etc.). Pathogenicity tests were carried out by inoculating disease-free, surface-disinfested spathes of thirty 30-day-old P. ternata plants in plastic pots with a sterilized mixture of peat moss and vermiculite (3:1). Five mycelial plugs (6 mm) were excised from the margin of a colony cultured for 5 days. The plugs were placed on five spathes covered with wet sterile cotton at 22±1℃, and 80% relative humidity, with a 12-h photoperiod. Five control plants were inoculated with noncolonized PDA plugs. Lesions formed on the second day, then rot and white hyphae began to appear on the third day, while the controls had no symptoms. Similar results were obtained in three repeated experiments with S. sclerotiorum being re-isolated from all diseased plants, in accordance with Koch's postulates. This disease is an emerging problem in P. ternata fields in Qianjiang, leading to extensive yield reduction and significant economic losses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Sclerotinia blight on P. ternata in China.

An Efficient Protocol for Direct Organogenesis of Pepper ( Capsicum annuum) التکوین العضوى المباشر فى نبات الفلفل

A simple and efficient plantlet regeneration protocol was established for Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) achieved through direct organogenesis from Leaves and cotyledons explants. Leaves were taken from 21 day- old in vitro plantlets and and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (1962) MS medium supplemented with different growth regulators. Thidiazuran (TDZ )or Benzyl adenine (BA) with Indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) containing medium was tested. Prolific direct adventitious shoot regeneration occurred on most of the tested growth regulators. The best response in terms of frequency of shoots number per explant (10.5) was obtained from cotyledon cultured on 1.0 mg/L TDZ in combination with 0.5 mg/L IAA. To elongate the shoots it were cultured on MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3 ) in combination with 0.25 mg/L Kinetin (KIN). The highest shoot length (2.2 cm) was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L GA3 and 0.25 mg/L KIN. Regenerated shoots were excised to root. The highest number of root/shoot was obtained with quarter MS salt medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L indole-3- butyric acid (IBA) with high length of root (4.60). plantlets were finally transferred to mixture of peatmoss, vermiculite and sand at equal volume 1:1:1.The plantlets showed 80 % survival after 30 days during acclimatization and transplanting.

Influence of nutrient solution concentration on growth and tissue mineral content of Panax ginseng seedlings cultured in a root medium containing peat and perlite

There is an increasing trend of producing seedlings of Panax ginseng in amended root media in raised beds. Precise control of the fertility of root media is essential for raising healthy seedlings, especially when inert media with a low buffering capacity are used. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of fertility (as measured by EC) of the nutrient solution used for seedling production. One thousand eight hundred seeds were sown for five treatments and a control (300 seeds per treatment, 3 × 3 cm spacing) using root medium [composed of peat moss + perlite (7:3, v/v)] on raised beds with measurements, 120 × 60 × 25 cm (L × W × H) on Mar 9, 2018. Five nutrient solutions with different strengths (0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 dS m−1 EC) were prepared with ground water (0.25 dS m−1) and a fertilizer stock solution (2 mM NH4+-N, 12 mM NO3−-N, 1 mM H2PO4−, 8 mM K+, 2 mM Ca2+, 1 mM Mg2+, 1 mM SO42−). Fertigation of the beds started on May 21 using each of six nutrient solutions and fertigation frequencies were controlled using an EC5 soil moisture sensor. The stock solutions were automatically supplied for 30 min when the volumetric water content decreased to 36%. Plant growth measurement and soil analyses were carried out twice: first at 144 days and subsequently at 197 days (from the day of seeds sown). For the first growth measurement, elevated EC in the fertilizer solution resulted in enhanced growth, but statistical differences among treatment solutions were not significant except for the case of ground water. In the second measurement, the seedling growth in terms of dry weight of above- and below-ground plant parts increased significantly in plants treated with the 1.0 dS m−1 EC solution and decreased in plants treated with the (1.2 dS m−1 EC) solution. In both the first and second measurements, the ground tissue nutrient content (T-N, P, K and Ca) was significantly different among treatments. The EC of root media in the case of 1.0 dS m−1 treatment, where the seedling growth was the highest among treatments, was 0.54 dS m−1 at the first measurement and 0.82 dS m−1 at the second measurement. In summary, a root medium with a mixture of peat moss + perlite (7:3, v/v), a leaching percentage of 20–30%, and a nutrient solution with a concentration of 1.0 dS m−1 EC is suitable for the healthy growth of ginseng seedlings.

Artificial Neural Network Modeling of Greenhouse Tomato Yield and Aerial Dry Matter

Non-linear systems, such as biological systems, can be simulated by artificial neural network (ANN) techniques. This research aims to use ANN to simulate the accumulated aerial dry matter (leaf, stem, and fruit) and fresh fruit yield of a tomato crop. Two feed-forward backpropagation ANNs, with three hidden layers, were trained and validated by the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm for weights and bias adjusted. The input layer consisted of the leaf area, plant height, fruit number, dry matter of leaves, stems and fruits, and the growth degree-days at 136 days after transplanting (DAT); these were obtained from a tomato crop, a hybrid, EL CID F1, with indeterminate growth habits, grown with a mixture of peat moss and perlite 1:1 (v/v) (substrate) and calcareous soil (soil). Based on the experimentation of the ANNs with one, two and three hidden layers, with MSE values less than 1.55, 0.94 and 0.49, respectively, the ANN with three hidden layers was chosen. The 7-10-7-5-2 and 7-10-8-5-2 topologies showed the best performance for the substrate (R = 0.97, MSE = 0.107, error = 12.06%) and soil (R = 0.94, MSE = 0.049, error = 13.65%), respectively. These topologies correctly simulated the aerial dry matter and the fresh fruit yield of the studied tomato crop.

Metal Accumulation by Jatropha curcas L. Adult Plants Grown on Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soil.

Jatropha curcas has the ability to phytoextract high amounts of heavy metals during its first months just after seeding. Notwithstanding, there is scarce information about metal uptake by adult J. curcas plants. To shed light on this issue, 4-year-old J. curcas L. plants were planted in a soil mixture of peat moss and mining soil (high metals content), and the biomass growth and metal absorption during 90 days were compared with those of plants growing in peat moss. The main metal found in the mining soil was Fe (31985 mg kg−1) along with high amounts of As (23717 mg kg−1). After the 90-day phytoremediation, the plant removed 29% of Fe and 44% of As from the soil mixture. Results revealed that J. curcas L. translocated high amounts of metals to its aerial parts, so that translocation factors were much higher than 1. Because of the high translocation and bioaccumulation factors obtained, J. curcas L. can be regarded as a hyperaccumulator plant. Despite the great capacity of J. curcas L. to phytoremediate heavy-metal-contaminated soils, the main drawback is the subsequent handling of the metal-contaminated biomass, although some potential applications have been recently highlighted for this biomass.

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF GAZANIA PLANTS TO GROWING MEDIA AND ORGANIC COMPOST

This work was carried out during two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 at the Nursery, Department of Floriculture, Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Gardening, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt to investigate the effect of different growing media (calcareous + sand + peat moss at the rate 70 and 40%) and two types of organic compost (rice straw and sugar beet at 30 and 60%) and their interaction on the growth and flowering of Gazania splendens plants. The experimental design in split-plot arrangement, with four replications, in both seasons. The growing media were laid out in the main plots and sub-plots included the different organic composts. Three pots were used as a plot for each treatment. The means of the individual factors and their interactions were compared by L.S.D. test at 5% level of probability. The obtained results can be summarized as follows; most vegetative growth characteristics such as: number of tillers (54.74), number of leaves (239.76) and leaves fresh weight (100.29 g) were significantly affected by organic compost at 60% sugar beet with peat moss treatment, flowers characteristics (inflorescences diameter (9.34 cm) and number of inflorescences (14.87), and inflorescences dry weights (0.459 g), responded significantly to the interaction between the different media and organic compost, the highest significant values were obtained by organic compost at 30 and/ or 60% sugar beet and peat moss. Total chlorophyll (56.23 mg/g f.w.), nitrogen (3.42%), phosphorus (0.74%) in the leaves were the highest with 60% sugar beet and 40% peat moss in both seasons. However, potassium (2.85%) in the leaves gave the highest significant values by 60% sugar beet with calcareous soil (40%) for both seasons. It can be recommended that producing high quality of Gazania splendens plants for different decorative purposes in landscaping can be accomplished by growing plants in the mixture of peat moss (40%) with organic compost at rate 60% sugar beet led to improve its characteristics.

Occurrence of Southern Blight Caused by Athelia rolfsii on Pinellia ternata in China and Worldwide

Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit. is an herbaceous plant (family Araceae) native to China. The tuber of P. ternata is used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine as an antiemetic and antitussive (Marki et al. 1987). In June 2018, a soilborne disease on P. ternata plants was initially observed in Zhongxiang City (31°17′N, 112°58′E), central Hubei Province, China. The incidence of the disease was 25 to 30% in two commercial fields, and the total area affected by the disease was approximately 200 ha. Symptomatic plants initially had small, water-soaked, sunken lesions on the stems near the soil line that developed symptoms typical of southern blight. As the disease progressed, white hyphae were observed on infected stem lesions in the presence of abundant moisture. Numerous tan-to-brown, spherical sclerotia developed on the infected basal stem and on soil surfaces around the infected plants. After 1 month, plant foliage became wilted, followed by a complete collapse of the plant. Sclerotia from symptomatic basal stems of plants were surface disinfested in 2% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, washed thrice with sterilized distilled water, air dried, and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA). The cultures were incubated at 28 ± 1°C in the dark. Numerous globoid sclerotia formed on PDA after 12 days of growth. The sclerotia, 2 to 4 mm in diameter, were white at first and became melanized, turning brown with age. The white mycelium formed typical clamp connections after 5 days of growth. Aerial fungal growth was composed of many narrow hyphae 3 to 8 μm wide. The isolate was identified as Athelia rolfsii on the basis of mycelial and sclerotial characteristics (Punja and Damiani 1996). To confirm the identification, the strain NB1 was chosen for DNA sequencing. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA was amplified using the ITS1 and ITS4 primers (White et al. 1990) and sequenced, and the resulting sequences of 650 bp were deposited in GenBank (accession no. MN071107). BLAST analysis of the sequences showed 99.8% identity to A. rolfsii (imperfect stage of Sclerotium rolfsii) (MN328049.1). Moreover, the isolate was further identified to the species level as A. rolfsii by amplifying RPB2 gene sequences (accession no. MN509436) and EF1-α gene sequences (accession no. MN509438), which also exhibited 100% similarities with A. rolfsii (JF267830 and JF267817) (Remesal et al. 2013). Based on morphological and molecular characteristics, the fungus was identified as A. rolfsii. NB1 was chosen to fulfill Koch’s postulates; 10 healthy 30-day-old P. ternata seedlings were planted in plastic pots with sterilized mixture of peat moss and vermiculite (3:1). Each seeding was inoculated with one sclerotium, which was placed on the soil surface against the stem of the plant. Three noninoculated plants served as controls. The inoculated and noninoculated plants then were placed in a greenhouse at 28 ± 1°C, with ambient lighting and relative humidity of 70%. By 10 days after inoculation, all inoculated plants showed symptoms identical to those observed in the field, and no symptoms were observed on control plants. The fungus was reisolated from the inoculated plants and identified by the above method. The experiment was repeated thrice with similar results. To our knowledge, this is the first report of southern blight caused by A. rolfsii on P. ternata in China and worldwide. There is a need to develop effective management measures to reduce the occurrence of this disease.

Southern Blight on Macleaya microcarpa Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in China

Macleaya microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde is a perennial herb belonging to the family Papaveraceae. This plant and the better-known species M. cordata (Willd.) R. Br. are native to central China and now planted worldwide for medicinal purposes (Qing et al. 2015). In August 2018, M. microcarpa in the Chinese herbal medicine planting base (approximately 4.3 ha) of Hunan Agriculture University in Changsha City, Hunan Province, showed what seemed to be a soilborne disease, in which approximately 25% of the plants were affected. The characteristic symptoms consisted of rotting, wilting, and blighting. Infected plants gradually withered, and white mycelial mats and sclerotia appeared on the surface of roots and stems at the soil line. Five sclerotia collected from three infected plants were surface disinfested in 0.5% NaOCl for 30 s, followed by 75% alcohol for 10 s, rinsed in sterile water three times, air dried, plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) with one sclerotium per dish, and incubated at 30°C in the dark. After 5 days, the aerial white mycelium usually formed many narrow hyphal strands, 4 to 9 μm wide. The white mycelium formed typical clamp connections. Numerous globoid sclerotia formed on PDA after 15 days of growth. The sclerotia (1 to 3 mm in diameter) were white at first and then gradually turned dark brown. Isolates were identified as Sclerotium rolfsii on the basis of mycelial characteristics, color, and sclerotia. Sequence analyses were conducted on sclerotia by extracting fungal DNA with the DNAsecure Plant Kit (Tiangen Biotech, China). To confirm the isolate identification, part of the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) gene and the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the fungus were amplified using the primers EF595F/EF1160R (Wendland and Kohe 1997) and ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), respectively. BLAST searches revealed that the EF1-α sequence (MK275299) had 99% sequence identity to S. rolfsii (GenBank accession nos. JN790645.1, KM521757.1, and JF267794.1). The ITS sequence (MK275300) had 96% identity to S. rolfsii (GenBank accession nos. KU885934.1, KT428156.1, and MH858139.1). To fulfill Koch’s postulates, five healthy 60-day-old M. microcarpa seedlings were inoculated with sclerotia obtained from a 15-day-old culture. The seedlings were grown in greenhouse pots with a sterilized mixture of peat moss and vermiculite (3:1). Dry sclerotia were placed directly in the wounds made with a sterile blade on the root (three sclerotia per plant). Five control plants were inoculated with clean PDA plugs. All plants were packed in plastic bags that had been sprayed with water to maintain high humidity and kept at approximately 30°C in the laboratory. Five days postinoculation, the inoculated M. microcarpa seedlings presented wilt and collar rot symptoms, whereas those not inoculated were symptomless. S. rolfsii could be reisolated from the infected plants. The experiment was repeated with similar results. To our knowledge, this is the first report of southern blight caused by S. rolfsii on M. microcarpa in China. Southern blight caused by S. rolfsii is a serious soilborne disease and able to cause plant death. Understanding its etiology may help to the control of this plant fungal pathogen, thus reducing economic losses.

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING MICROPROPAGATION OF Haplophyllum tuberculatum L

This study was carried out at Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Faculty of EnvironmentalAgricultural Sciences, El-Arish University, North Sinai Governorate, Egypt during 2014 to 2017.Effect of three medium types, Murashige and Skoog (MS), Linsmaier and Skoog (LS) and Lloyd andMcCown (WPM), two explant types (shoot-tip and single node cutting), three cytokinin types(Benzyladenine, Kinetin and 2-isopenteny1 adenine), two additives; viz., s (thiamine and pyridoxinehydrochloride) and amino acids (asparagine and arginine) and two gelling agents (guar seed powderand locust bean seed powder) combined with agar on micropropagation of Haplophyllum tuberculatumwere investigated. For rooting, the effect of three auxins (Indole acetic acid, Indol butyric acid andNaphthalene acetic acid) were studied in combination with three medium strengths (full, half andquarter) combined with the best mixture (0.50 mgl-1 Kin + 6 gl-1 agar with 2 gl-1guar seed powder) ofgelling agents. Obtained results showed that Murashige and Skoog (MS) was the best medium withsingle node explant as starting material during establishment stage. Multiple shoots were obtained onMS medium supplemented with 1.0 mgl-1 Kinetin (Kin) combined with 0.1 mgl-1 α-naphthalene aceticacid (NAA). Thiamine and arginine were the best vitamins and amino acid at 0.1 mgl-1 and 0.50 mgl-1,respectively. Agar at 6 gl-1 + guar seed powder at 2 gl-1 was the best gelling agent treatment. Halfstrength MS medium with 0.50 mgl-1 Kin + 0.5 mgl-1 NAA and 6 gml-1 agar with 2 gml-1 guar seedpowder was the best combination for rooting were successfully (85% survival) acclimatized in mixtureof peatmoss, vermiculite, washed sterilized sand and perlite (1:1:1:1, V/V/V/V).

Response of Oak and Maple Seed Germination and Seedling Growth to Different Manganese Fertilizers in a Cultured Substratum

Oak regeneration failures have been causing a slow decline in the occurrence of oak forest ecosystems in eastern North America. Accordingly, our study sought to determine a means of creating more vigorous and competitive oak seedlings by the addition of manganese (Mn) fertilizers. Seeds of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), and red maple (Acer rubrum L.), one of oak’s major competitors in North America oak forest ecosystems, were sown in 0.7 liter pots that contained a growing medium mixture of peat moss, perlite, and sand in a ratio of 2:1:2, and germinated in a greenhouse. Three different chemical compound Mn fertilizer treatments—manganese chloride (0.16 mg L−1 Mn, MnCl2·4H2O), nanoparticle manganese in the form of manganese hydroxide (0.01 mg/L Mn, nanoparticle Mn(OH)2), and manganese hydroxide (0.01 mg L−1 Mn, Mn(OH)2)—and a treatment of Hoagland solution were applied to the planted seed. These treatments were compared to a control consisting of water, and treatments were applied twice a week over a 12 week period. Germination rates and seedling growth were measured over this period of time. At the end of 12 weeks seedlings were harvested, separated into roots, stem, and foliage for the purpose of biomass and nutrient analysis by seedling component. Northern red oak displayed a 100% germination success rate with MnCl2·4H2O and Mn(OH)2 treatments, while red maple germination was reduced with the MnCl2·4H2O and nanoparticle Mn(OH)2 treatments with only a 32% and 24% germination rate, respectively. The MnCl2·4H2O treatment produced the largest overall seedling size (basal diameter squared times the seedling height) of red maple with a 191.6% increase; however, the MnCl2·4H2O treatment produced the largest overall seedling size (basal diameter squared times the seedling height) of northern red oak and chestnut oak with an increase of 503.7% and 339.5%, respectively. The greatest increase in overall seedling size for northern red oak was with the Mn(OH)2 treatment at 507.2%, and 601.2% for chestnut oak with the nanoparticle Mn(OH)2 treatment. MnCl2·4H2O treatment significantly increased the oak foliar nitrogen (N) content. It appears that the application of Mn fertilizer can increase the germination and growth of these oak species while suppressing or having a lesser effect on red maple, thus creating a competitive advantage for oak over its competitor.

MICROPROPAGATION AND EVALUATION OF GENETIC STABILITY OF FOXGLOVE TREE (Paulownia tomentosa)

This reasearch work aimed to fine-tune micropropagation of Paulownia tomentosa in addition to assessing the genetic stability of in vitro raised clones from it. Paulownia tomentosa explants were surface sterilized using clorox (commercial bleach 5.25% sodium hypochlorite) at 10, 20, 25 and 30% + 0.5 g/l mercuric chloride (HgCl2) at different duration times, i.e. 10, 15, 20 and 25 min. In the multiplication stage, shoots were transferred to MS medium at ¾ strength containing BAP and Kin each at (0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg/l). Whereas, the rooting medium was MS medium at ¾ strength with IBA and NAA treatments each at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg/l. Sterilized explant with 30% Clorox for 20 min recorded highest survival percentage. The treatment of Kin at 4 mg/l gave higher significant shoot length. Whereas BAP application at 2 and 4 mg/l gave highest significant value of both shoot number and leaf number. Both IBA and NAA at 0.5 or 1 mg/l gave highest significant root number/shoot. Whereas, auxin at 4 mg/l gave highest significant root lengths. Young plantlets resulted from in vitro were acclimitized successfully in a mixture of peat moss: perlit (2: 1) by volume that showed 85.93% survival. The genetic stability of in vitro raised Paulownia tomentosa clones was assessed by using intersimple sequence repeats (ISSRs) markers. All of the three ISSR primers screened, produced clear, reproducible and scorable bands. The molecular size of Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) products generated 22 fragments by these ISSR ranged from ≈460 to18660 bp. All banding profiles from micropropagated plants were monomorphic and similar to those of the mother plant, indicating 100% similarity. This confirmed the true to type nature of the in vitro raised clones.

Evaluation of optimum concentration of naphthalene acetic acid on <i>in vitro</i> rooting and acclimatization of tissue culture date palm (<i>Phoenix dactylifera</i> L.) plantlets

A major limitation in large scale application of micropropagation technology is high mortality experienced by in vitro raised plants during laboratory to land transfer. This study was aimed at investigating the best concentration of Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on in vitro rooting and also develop protocol for successful plant acclimatization with high survival rate. Date palm plantlets were rooted on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium with different NAA concentrations (0.0, 0.1, 0.5 1.0, 1.5 and 2 mg/l) without activated charcoal. Result showed that all the NAA concentrations supported root formation. The optimal initiation and growth of roots of the plantlets were observed at NAA concentration of 1.0 mg/l (87 %) and least with Basal MS without NAA (47 %). Results also showed that root number and lengths increased with increasing NAA concentrations up to 1.0 mg/l and decreased thereafter. The culture mixture of peat moss + soil (2:1) gave the highest survival percentage of 80 % for plant acclimatization. This investigation had shown that accurate assessments of responses to medium at various stages should be considered as specific requirement for successful plant acclimatization. Keywords: date palm, in vitro , plantlets, acclimatization

Impact of Growing Media and Compound Fertilizer Rates on Growth and Flowering of Cocks Comb (Celosia argentea) Plants

The present study was conducted during consecutive seasons of 2016 and 2017 seasons in a private nursery belonging to Sakha Horticulture Research Station at Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. This study aimed mainly to investigate the effect of growing media including different mixture of peat moss and sand as 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2 v/v and NPK fertilizer at rates of 0 , 1.5, 3 and 4.5 g/pot and their interaction on growth, flowering and chemical composition of cocks comb (Celosia argentea) plants. The results revealed that growing media containing peat + sand (2:1) had significant positive effect on number of leaves and branches/plant, number of inflorescences and chlorophyll content (SPAD) as well as leaf chemical composition parameters (total carbohydrate, N, P and K %) in both seasons. Applying the complete fertilizer of NPK at 4.5g/pot was the best treatment for vegetative growth, flowering and chemical constituents of leaves. The maximum beneficial effect on the vegetative growth characteristics, number of inflorescences/plant and chlorophyll content (SPAD) and total carbohydrate as well as leaf, N, P and K % were obtained for plants grown in in peat + sand (2: 1 v/v) and fertilized by NPK (20: 20: 20) at rate of 4.5 g/pot. It can be recommended that to produce high inflorescences with a good quality of Celosia argentea plants for different purposes in the gardens by planting them in the mixture of peat moss + sand at 2: 1 v/v and fertilizing with complete fertilizer NPK (20:20:20) at rate 4.5g/pot four times stating after one month from transplant and then 2 weeks intervals.

Control of relative humidity and root-zone water content for acclimation of in vitro-propagated M9 apple rootstock plantlets

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of controlling the relative humidity (RH) and water content of the root-zone on the survival rate and growth of in vitro-propagated virus-free M9 apple plantlets in closed-type plant production systems. In the first experiment, three RH regimes were applied to pre-acclimated (PA) and non-PA apple plantlets for 6 weeks after transplantation. In the second experiment, the apple plantlets were transplanted into several growth media, including a mixture of peat moss and perlite (PP), rock wool (RW), and urethane sponge (SP), and in a deep flow technique (DFT) system for controlled root zone water content under controlled RH. In the first experiment, pre-acclimation improved the survival rate by preventing the loss of leaf water potential and promoting antioxidant capacity during the acclimation period. However, no clear difference was found among the three RH regimes. The antioxidant capacity was increased at 2 weeks after transplantation, followed by root initiation. The leaf water potential, which decreased continuously until 3 weeks after transplanting, tended to remain constant after root initiation. These results suggested that pre-acclimation is necessary for the survival of in vitro-propagated apple plantlets, and that the underdeveloped roots of apple plantlets have restricted water absorption under controlled RH. In the second experiment, the survival rate of plantlets grown in PP at 6 weeks after transplantation was only 70% accompanied by an increase in antioxidant capacity, whereas the survival rates of plantlets grown in RW, SP, DFT, and DFT-PP (replanted to PP from DFT 4 weeks after transplantation) were 98, 96, 93.8, and 93.8%, respectively. Most of the growth parameters of the plantlets grown in DFT were the highest among the growth media at 6 weeks after transplantation. The results of the second experiment implied that the application of DFT for in vitro-propagated apple plantlets can reduce the problems caused by poor root architecture during acclimation.

RESPONSE OF GROWTH, PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF CULTIVATED PUMPKIN PLANTS SUBSTRATE CULTURE

Growth, productivity and quality of pumpkin plants (Cucurbita maxima), in three substrates (a mixture of peat moss and perlite (50%: 50% v/v), a mixture of sand and rice husk (50%: 50% v/v) and Sand) were tested during 2015 and 2016 seasons. An economic evaluation of productivity in each tested substrates was measured. Results indicated that sand enhanced significantly both growth and productivity followed by the mixture of sand and rice husk. However, the lowest growth and productivity were obtained when using the mixture of Peat moss and perlite. The economic evaluation confirmed the value of using sand as agriculture substrate for producing pumpkin plants.

Application of Tissue Culture Technique on Marrubium vulgare L. Plant

This study was carried out at the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences (FEAS), Arish University, North Sinai, Egypt during 2012 to 2017. The aim of the study was to use tissue culture technique for the micropropagation of Marrubium vulgare plant. One node cutting and shoot tip were cultured on MS, NN and B5 media supplemented with 100 mgl-1 myo-inositol and 3% sucrose. The results showed that shoot tip cultured on the MS medium had the best effect on the establishment stage of mother plants. Multiple shoots were obtained on MS medium supplemented with 1.00 mgl-1Kin in combination with 0.10 mgl-1 NAA. MS medium supplemented with 0.30 mgl-1 pyridoxine achieved the best shoot development compared with the other additive treatments and control. The highest rooting of shoots was with full strength MS medium supplemented with 1.00 mgl-1IBA and half strength MS medium with 1.50 mgl-1 NAA. Hardening the rooted cuttings was done in a greenhouse in pots containing a mixture of peatmoss, vermiculite and washed sand at the rate of 1:1:1 (v/v/v). Plantlets were successfully acclimated with 90% survival.

Effect of germination media on in vitro symbiotic seed germination of three Dendrobium orchids

In vitro symbiotic seed germination has become increasingly popular for orchid propagation. With very few exceptions, in vitro symbiotic seed germination methods use oat meal agar (OMA) as the medium. However, effects of oat concentrations on symbiotic germination of orchid seeds have not been investigated. In our first experiment, effectiveness of three concentrations of ground oat (1, 5, or 10g/l) in OMA inoculated with an orchid mycorrhizal fungus (Tulasnella deliquescens (Juel) Juel), uninoculated OMA (10g/l of oat) and one fifth Murashige and Skoog medium containing 6g/l of sucrose (1/5MS) on promoting seed germination of Dendrobium lindleyi Steud. were compared. Germination and protocorm development of D. lindleyi were found to be enhanced by higher oat concentrations. The OMA containing 10g/l of oat with mycorrhizal inoculation also outperformed 1/5MS. In our second and third experiments, the use of common orchid cultivation substrates as alternative media for in vitro symbiotic orchid seed germination was investigated. For Dendrobium fimbriatum Hook., we demonstrated that sphagnum peat moss inoculated with T. deliquescens either isolate Da-KP-0-1 or Pv-PC-1-1 in plastic containers could be used to germinate the orchid to advanced seedling stage, although the germination percentages were low, probably due to the waterlogged characteristic of the peat moss and low ventilation of the plastic boxes. For Dendrobium findlayanum C.S.P. Parish & Rchb.f., we used the mixture of peat moss and coir dust packed in Petri dishes to solve the mentioned problems and compared the effectiveness of this system to OMA and 1/5MS. The three treatments resulted in similar germination percentages but the symbiotic methods were more effective than 1/5MS in promoting protocorm development of D. findlayanum. The findings of this study can be used to improve symbiotic germination media and they encourage the use of symbiotic germination method as mean for orchid seed propagation.