Effect of Using Different Percentages of Vermicompost on the Growth and Production of Eggplant (Solanum Melongena L.) Grown In Different Sizes of Pots under Greenhouses

Abstract

The experiment was carried out in the greenhouse complex of the Department of Horticulture and Landscaping-Agriculture College-Tikrit University for the agricultural season 2022-2021 to study the use of different percentages of Vermicompost fertilizer (P1 = 5%, P2 = 10%, P3 = 15%) added to the cultivation medium in pots in addition to comparison treatment P0 (without addition), The second factor is three volumes of pots (8 liters = V1, 16 liters = V2, and 24 liters = V3) and the interaction between them according to the randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with a split-plot design with three replications.

The results showed an increase in the growth and yield of eggplant with an increase in the proportions of fertilizer addition and an increase in the size of the pots, as the two treatments of adding organic fertilizer by 15% (P3) as well as the size of the large pot (V3) gave a significant superiority in most of the studied traits, as they gave 702.56 g plant-1 and 1.64 kg plant-1 for vegetative growth weight and total yield, respectively, compared to the control treatment (410 g and 0.75 kg plant-1, respectively), Also, the large pot size (V3) gave the highest increase rate of 33.35%, 105.67% and 116% for the characteristics of the vegetative and root growth weight and the total yield compared to the small size (V1). As for the interaction treatments, the interaction P3V3 gave the highest total yield of 2.43 kg plant-1 compared to 0.57 kg plant-1 for the control treatment (V1P0).