Response of squash plants grown under sandy soil and high irrigation water salinity conditions to foliar spray with potassium silicate and inoculation with mycorrhiza

Author : Alaa El-Den H. Roshdy and Noura M. Taha

An experiment was carried out at Wadi El-Natroon district Behiera Governorate, during the growth summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 to investigate the effect of inoculation with mycorrhiza (M) and/or foliar application of silicon as potassium silicate (KS) to improve squash plants growth parameters and yield and
its components as well as fruits nutrient quality, which confronting the saline conditions in new reclaimed soils. The irrigation of squash plants was with well water that has salinity ranged between 3.4–3.6 dSm-1. The results revealed decreasing of all growth, yield and fruits nutrients quality characters as shown in control (well water). However, the application of mycorrhiza inoculum in squash seeds in accompined with foliar application of KS at 4 mlL-1 every 10 days after transplanting in the open field could be an effective procedure for significant enhancing the performances of squash plants grown under similar unfavorable conditions of increasing irrigation water salinity.

Keywords : squash, Cucurbita pepo, salinity, mycorrhiza, potassium silicate, growth, yield.,

Received:1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM; Accepted: 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM