Soil mulching and foliar anti-transpirations effect on soil, growth and nutrients status of young mango trees cultivated in Toshka.
El-Deen E. M. A. Z., Attia M. F., Laila F. H., Shahin M. F. M., Genaidy E. A. E., Merward M. A.
Author Affiliation: Pomology Unit, Plant Production Department, Cairo, Egypt.
International Journal of Agricultural Technology 11 : 1013-1032
Abstract : This experiment was carried out through two seasons (2012 and 2013) on mango trees four years old (Mangifera indica var, Keitt) grafted on sucarry rootstock grown on sandy soil at Toshki Research Station, Desert Research Center, Aswan Governorate, Egypt to investigate the effect of soil mulching by plant residues and compost and monthly foliar application (from April to August) of anti-transpiration materials such as kaolin (aluminum silicate) and silicon (potassium silicate) on leaf mineral content and vegetative growth of keitt young mango trees, and some physical and chemical soil properties. In general, results indicated that, both soil mulching and anti-transpiration materials enhanced and increased growth parameters, leaf nutrient contents and some soil physical and chemical properties. Separately mulching with compost or spraying with kaolin showed significant superiority over mulching and spraying treatments. The interaction between mulching with compost + spraying with kaolin showed the highest significant effect on improving and increasing all the studied parameters of young mango trees as well as soil properties.