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A B S T R A C TTwo independent trials were established during the years of 2009 and 2010 with M.26 apple rootstocks and Prunus mahaleb L. seedlings in three different locations to evaluate the effect of seven organic fertilizers and amendments on the growth of rootstocks in an organic nursery in the first year of an operation. The products tested were a microbial consortium, two kinds of vermicomposts extracts, two kind of seaweeds extracts, a stillage from yeast production and a solution of titanium. Plants receiving these products were compared to untreated and minerally or organically (manure) fertilized during vegetative season. Plant growth was evaluated by measuring the increase of the root neck diameter and the height of the tallest upward growing shoot. The application of the different organic fertilizers and amendments induced significantly higher growth of both kinds of rootstocks in all locations and for each year in comparison to control and, in the majority of the cases, to the chemical and manure fertilization. However, some products (BF Quality, Micosat, Humus UP, Tytanit and Vinassa) showed a more consistent effect on the growth of tested rootstocks under different soil and climatic conditions. It can be concluded that fertilization of apple and sour cherry rootstock with organic fertilizers and amendments of different origin and composition is effective in producing of high quality plants.

A study was conducted in an organic nursery, in 2010 and 2011, on the growth of scab-resistant maiden apple trees of the cultivars Topaz and Ariwa grafted on M.26 rootstock. The young trees were grown at a spacing of 25 cm × 1.0 m on a podzolic soil. On the basis of the differences in the thickness and height of the maidens, and the number of lateral shoots and their length, as well as the number of branched trees, the effects of various fertilizers were studied depending on the number of treatments applied to the plants, which were treated either once or twice with such products as granulated manure, Micosat, Humus UP, Humus Active + Aktywit PM, BF Amin, BF Quality, Tytanit and Vinassa. The control plants were not fertilized at all, or fertilized with NPK. The fertilizers were applied the first time to the soil and plants in the nursery in mid-May and the second time in early June. The results showed that using them in a double treatment did not result in improved plant growth in every case. Two applications of humic preparations, the so-called vermiculites (Humus UP, Humus Active + Aktywit PM with the addition of beneficial bacteria), BF Quality, and to some extent also BF Amin gave better results in terms of the quality of maiden trees than a single application of these products, whereas in the case of preparations such as Tytanit and Vinassa, treating plants with them for the second time did not result in a significant increase in the intensity of plant growth in relation to the plants treated only once during the early period of growth

The experiment assessed the influence of various biofertilizers and biostimulants on the growth characteristics of the root system, its colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the yielding of sweet cherry trees in field conditions. The experiment, conducted in Pomological Orchard of Research Institute of Horticulture located in Skierniewice during 2011–2014, involved the use of a mycorrhizal substrate, organic fertilizers and biostimulant in randomised block design. The control combination consisted of plants fertilized with mineral fertilizers (NPK). The use of the organic fertilizer BF Ekomix in dose 100 g per tree each year in the spring significantly increased the number of root tips in comparison with the control trees. There was also a tendency for the roots to lengthen and increase their surface area under the influence of this biofertilizer. In addition, the inoculation of roots with the mycorrhizal substrate in dose 200 g per tree per year stimulated the colonization of the roots of sweet cherry trees by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which in turn led to improved root growth parameters.

Apple trees which grafted on M.M. 106 stocks were planted at the beginning of spring 2014 in pots at the Research Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice, Poland. The used treatments in the experiment were: NPK fertilization and bioproducts: Fertigo (Manure), Micosat, Humus UP, Humus Active + Aktywit PM, BioFeed Quality, BioFeed Amin, Vinassa, Florovit Natura and Florovit Eko. In the spring, these treatments were applied to apple trees alone or enriched with Pantoea sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, Klebsiella oxytoca and Rhizobium sp. bacterial strains. Growth, yield and fruit quality parameters were evaluated. The results revealed that photosynthetic rate was greatly improved by the addition of bacteria to Fertigo (Manure), Micosat, Humus UP and Humus Active + Aktywit PM as compared to NPK. Tree trunk thickness was significantly enhanced with Vinassa, Florovit Natura and Florovit Eko enriched with bacteria. The application of bacterial strains increased the effectiveness of Fertigo (Manure), Humus UP, Humus Active + Aktywit PM, Biofeed Amin and Yeast in increasing significantly number and weight of fruits as compared to NPK.

A field trial was conducted to investigate the productivity of three bread wheat cultivars, namely Giza-168, Shandawel-1, and Misr-2, under different fertilization treatments, i.e., azotobacter inoculation, 25% nitrogen (N) + azotobacter, 50%N + azotobacter, 75%N + azotobacter, and 100%N of the recommended level (180 kg/ha). The treatments were laid in a split-plot design, and each was replicated three times. The findings showed that wheat cultivars examined in the two seasons exhibited significant variations (p ≤ 0.05) in plant height (PH, cm), number of tillers m−2 (NTM), number of spikelets per spike (NSS), 1000-grain weight (TGW, g), spike length (SL, cm), biological yield (BY, ton ha−1), grain yield (GY, ton ha−1), straw yield (SY, ton ha−1), harvest index (HI, %), protein content (PC, %), days to 50% heading (DTH), and chlorophyll content (CC, SPAD). As a result, Giza-168 had a higher GY (14%), HI (27%), and TGW (10%) than any of the other two cultivars in both growing seasons. Furthermore, Misr-2 exhibited the highest PH (16%), NTM (26%), NSS (28%), SL (10%), BY (30%), SY (46%), and CC (3%). The application of the two treatments of 100%N and N75% + azotobacter exhibited high and statistically similar performance, resulting in an increase in all studied traits by greater than 30–50% compared to the other three treatments. According to the findings of the current investigation, the application of N fertilizer combined with azotobacter increased wheat yield more than either solely azotobacter or N application. We concluded that the application of nitrogen combined with azotobacter reduced the quantity of applied nitrogen by 25%.

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