The Effect of foliar feeding with Potassium, Boron and Zinc on some growth and production parameters of sweet cherry Prunus avium L. var. bing)) tree

Abstract

The research was carried out in the town of Ras Al-Maarra, Damascus Countryside Governorate, during the 2020 season, to study the effect of foliar spraying with potassium, zinc and boron compounds on some growth and production indicators of sweet cherry tree cultivar Bing. The experiment was designed according to the randomized complete block design, and each treatment was repeated three times, and each replicate contained two trees.

The results showed an improvement in the indicators of the study. In term of  leaf area, the treatment of spraying with zinc (Zn) and a mixture of zinc and potassium (K + Zn) was significantly superior to all the remaining treatments, and the highest value (150.8 cm²) was achieved in the treatment of spraying with zinc (Zn). with an increase of (38.6%) compared to the control (108.8 cm ²), and in the term of the annual shoot length index, the treatment of spraying with zinc (Zn) was significantly superior and achieved the highest value (4.88 cm) with an increase rate of (63.7%) compared to the control (2.98 cm). and in the term of the fruit set, the treatment of spraying with boron (B), a mixture of zinc and boron (Zn + B), and a mixture of potassium and boron (K + B) were significantly superior to the remaining treatments, and the highest value (90.10%) was achieved when spraying with boron (B) compared to the control (84.13%) with an increase rate of (7%), and in the term of fruit diameter, the treatment of spraying with zinc (Zn) (23.7 mm) was significantly superior to all treatments, with an increase of (12.4%) over the treatment of the control (21.9 mm), In the term of weight, the treatments of spraying with zinc ( Zn) and spraying with boron (B) were significantly higher (8.5 g) as compared to all the remaining treatments, while the lowest value the treatment of potassium and zinc (K + Zn) (6.8 g). Boron and zinc (Zn + B) and a mixture of potassium and zinc (K + Zn) were significantly higher in the term of tree production (42  and 39 kg) respectively, with an increase of (81 and 69.5%) respectively, as compared to the control (23 kg).