Vegetative growth, yield, and fruit quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Maamoura as affected by some biostimulants

Abstract

The present study was performed during two successive seasons 2019 and 2020 to investigate the effect of the soil application of fulvic acid (FA), seaweed extract (SE), and their different combinations on vegetative growth, yield, and fruit quality of six-years-old guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. ‘Maamoura’. The trees were planted 4 × 4 m2 apart in clay soil under a flood irrigation system. They were treated three times starting from mid-March with one-month intervals with the following treatments: Control (water only), 3 and 4 g/L FA, 3 and 4 g/L SE, and their different combinations; 3 g/L FA + 3 g/L SE, 3 g/L FA + 4 g/L SE, 4 g/L FA + 3 g/L SE, and 4 g/L FA + 4 g/L SE. The results clearly showed that the application of FA or SE solely or in combinations increased shoot length and diameter, as well as leaf chlorophyll compared with the control. The treatments also increased fruit set percentage, fruit yield, and fruit physical and chemical characteristics such as fruit weight, size, TSS%, total reduced and non-reduced sugars, as well as leaf mineral content, while they decreased the fruit acidity compared with the control in the two seasons.

Photosynthetic Pigments and Biochemical Response of Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) to Plant-Derived Extracts, Microbial, and Potassium Silicate as Biostimulants Under Greenhouse Conditions

“…It is noted that there is an effect of the use of biostimulants on the metabolism of plants and the final quality (Colla et al, 2015 ). Plant growth, quality, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses, photosynthesis, and using nutrients, fertilizers, and water are able to be enhanced by plant-derived biostimulants (PDBs) by modulating plant biochemical, molecular, and physiological processes (Rouphael and Colla, 2020b ; Godlewska et al, 2021 ; Mosa et al, 2021b ). Our previous work (Hassan et al, 2021 ) showed that the most abundant phenolic compounds in Eucalyptus camaldulensis LE were pyrogallol, caffeic acid, and p -coumaric acid, in Citrus sinensis LE were syringic and ferulic acids, and in Ficus benghalensis were gallic, p-coumaric, and syringic acids.…”

Evaluation of the efficiency of rhizobial biofertilizers in guava crop (Psidium guajava L.) using statistical quality control.

“…However, despite this agricultural practice, the desired results have not been achieved and, on the contrary, the deterioration of the soil and the contamination of the environment have increased. The application of biofertilizers in guava crops emerges as an important agrobiotechnology for the improvement and sustainable development of this type of fruit crops (Mosa et al, 2021). In agricultural production systems, the modern use of quality control tools makes it possible to identify, correct and improve those factors that negatively influence crop yields (Miroslav et al, 2016).…”