Document Type : Original Research Article
Authors
Ornamental Plants and Landscape Gardening Res. Dept., Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt
10.21608/sjfop.2025.448875
Abstract
This experiment was conducted to improve the growth and flowering quality of potted vinca plants Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don. using NPK (19:19:19), chelated iron, and zinc fertilization. Results indicated that adding NPK fertilization at 1 g/pot and 2 g/pot once monthly improved vegetative characteristics (plant height, number of branches, stem thickness, length and roots number, and fresh and dry weights of leaves and roots), as well as increasing the number of flowers and the fresh and dry weight of flowers. The leaf content of chlorophyll, total carbohydrates, and the percentage of N, P, and K in the leaves also increased compared to plants that were not fertilized, with a clear advantage for fertilizing at 2 g compared to fertilizing at 1 g. Spraying plants with iron and zinc significantly improved vegetative, flower and chemical characteristics, with Fe (100 ppm) yielding better results than Zn (100 ppm). Vegetative and floral characteristics reached their highest values when Fe and Zn were added together, compared to when iron and zinc were added alone. The application of Fe and Zn, either alone or in combination, improved the characteristics of plants fertilized with NPK (2 g/pot), both vegetative and floral characteristics, as well as leaf contents of total carbohydrates, chlorophyll, N, P, and K. The best results were achieved by plants fertilized with NPK (2 g/pot) in conjunction with a combined 100 ppm Fe and Zn fertilizer. Therefore, to achieve the best vegetative and floral features, it is advised to fertilize vinca plants with NPK fertilizer (2 g/pot) and 100 ppm chelated Fe and 100 ppm chelated Zn.
Keywords
)
View on SCiNiTO