, during the two successive seasons of 2000 and 2001, with the aim of investigating the effect of chemical, organic and bio-fertilization treatments on the growth and chemical composition of Joseph's coat (Amaranthus tricolor L.) plants. The treatments included fertilization with PK (P at 6 g calcium superphosphate, and K at 3 g potassium sulphate / 25-cm clay pot), combined with: (1) N fertilization at the rates of 6 or 12 g ammonium sulphate /pot (N 1 and N 2 , respectively), (2) Bio-fertilization (Bio), (3) Bio. + half the previous N fertilization rates (½ N 1 or N 1), (4) Cattle manure (CM) at the rate of 710 cm 3 /pot (equivalent to 40 m 3 /feddan), or (5) Bio + CM at 355 cm 3 /pot (equivalent to 20 m 3 /feddan). Control plants received PK fertilization only. The bio-fertilizer was applied to the soil as a liquid inoculum containing Azospirillum brasilense, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas putida. Most of the fertilization treatments increased the different vegetative growth and flowering characteristics. Among the different treatments, combining Bio with CM (i.e. PK + Bio + ½ CM) was the most effective one, giving the highest values for plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, number of flower stalks/plant, fresh and dry weights of leaves and stems/plant, as well as the the highest contents of chlorophyll "a", total chlorophylls (a+b), carotenoids and anthocyanin in the leaves. Also, this treatment (PK + Bio + ½ CM) gave the highest content of total carbohydrates in the leaves, stems, flowers and roots (in most cases). On the other hand, PK+N 2 gave the highest numbers of branches /plant, and the longest flowering stalks, while the highest number of leaves was found on plants fertilized using PK + N 2 or PK + ½ CM + bio-fertilization. PK + N 1 + Bio gave the highest roots fresh weight in both seasons. Plants fertilized with PK + N 2 had the highest N content in the leaves (in both seasons), stems and flowers (in the first season), as well as the highest P content in the roots (in both seasons) and stems (in the second season). It was concluded that, for best vegetative growth and flowering of Amaranthus tricolor, L. the plants should be fertilized using the previously described mixture of PK, bio-fertilization and half of the full dose of organic (cattle) manure.

This study was carried out at Dept. of Ornamental Hort., Fac. Agric., Cairo Univ. and the applied part was carried out under open field conditions at the Experimental Farm of Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt during 2015 and 2016 seasons to investigate the effect of pinching, bio-and chemical fertilization (as a soil drench), foliar spraying with alar and their interactions on flowering parameters of goldenrod (Solidago hybrida, "Tara") with the aim of producing high quality plants appropriate to be used as flowering pot plants. Flowering stem length (cm), flowering start date (days), flowering stem fresh and dry weights (g) and number of flowering branches were greatly affected by single, double and triple treatments applied in this study. Regarding the effect of interaction treatments between pinching, fertilization and alar, non-pinching in addition to bio-fertilization + NPK at 3 g/pot + alar at 1000 ppm resulted in the longest flowering stems. Non-pinching in addition to bio-fertilization + NPK at 1.5 g/pot + alar at 500 ppm shared some other treatments (i.e. pinching in addition to bio-fertilization + NPK at 3 g/pot + alar at 500 ppm) and resulted in the lowest flowering start date values. On the other hand, pinching in addition to bio-fertilization + NPK at either 1.5 or 3 g/pot + alar at 500 ppm produced the heaviest fresh flowering stems and to some extent the highest number of flowering branches. However, nonpinching in addition to alar at 1000 ppm + NPK at 3 g/pot either with or without bio-fertilization resulted in the heaviest flowering stems dry weight. According to the previous findings and from an aesthetic point of view, it is recommended to treat goldenrod transplants grown in 14 cm pots with pinching in addition to bio-fertilization plus NPK at either 1.5 or 3 g/pot + spraying with alar at 500 ppm to produce high quality goldenrod plants appropriate to be used as flowering pot plants.

, during the two successive seasons of 2000 and 2001, with the aim of investigating the effect of chemical, organic and biofertilization treatments on the growth, chemical composition and oil production of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) plants. In addition to the control, the fertilization treatments included: (1) N fertilization at the rates of 6 or 12 g ammonium sulphate /pot (N 1 and N 2 , respectively), (2) Bio-fertilization (Bio), (3) Bio + half the previous N fertilization rates (½ N 1 or N 1), (4) Cattle manure (CM) at the rate of 710 cm 3 /pot (equivalent to 40 m 3 /feddan), or (5) Bio + ½ CM (i.e., CM at 355 cm 3 /pot, equivalent to 20 m 3 /feddan). All plants (including the control) received chemical PK fertilization (P at 6 g calcium superphosphate, and K at 3 g potassium sulphate / 25-cm pot). The bio-fertilizer was applied to the soil as a liquid inoculum containing Azospirillum brasilense, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas putida. In general, all the tested fertilization treatments had a favourable effect on vegetative growth, flowering, chemical composition and oil production. In most cases, fertilization with CM (especially when added without bio-fertilization) gave the highest values for the different vegetative growth characteristics (plant height, number of branches, fresh and dry weights of leaves, stems and roots). Also, CM (with or without biofertilization) gave the best results for number of flowers/plant, as well as fresh and dry weights of flowers (in most cases). Fertilization treatments also increased the leaf contents of chlorophylls "a", "b", total chlorophylls, carotenoids and xanthophylls (in most cases), as well as the total carbohydrates contents in the different plant parts. Also, most of the fertilization treatments increased the N and P contents in the flowers and roots, as well as the K contents in leaves and stems. Moreover, oil percentage and yield were increased in the flowers and leaves of fertilized plants (compared to the control), with the highest values resulting from plants supplied with CM, with or without biofertilization (especially in the second season). Linalool, limonene, ocimene, caryophyllene and eugenol were the main

INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT GROWING MEDIA ON GROWTH AND CHEMICALCONSTITUENTS OF Schefflera arboricola.

This study was carried out in the experimental nursery of the Ornamental Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, during the two successive years of 2007 and 2008. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of growing sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) as a pot plant using different potting media and growth retardant treatments. The plants were grown in 25-cm pots filled with clay, clay+sand (1:1, v/v), clay+peat (1:1, v/v) or sand+peat (1:1, v/v), and were treated twice with paclobutrazol as a soil drench at 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 or 6.0 mg a.i./pot, or with Pix (mepiquat chloride) as a foliar spray at 500, 1000, 1500 or 2000 ppm, plus the control. The recorded results showed that using clay+peat (1:1, v/v) gave the best results for all the studied vegetative growth and flowering characteristics. In most cases, the different growth retardant treatments decreased plant height. The shortest plants were achieved with using paclobutrazol at 6 mg a.i./pot (in the first season) or Pix at 2000 ppm (in the second one). Growth retardant treatments (poclobutrazol or Pix) also decreased flower diameter, but increased the fresh and dry weights of flower-heads.