EFFECT OF SEED SOAKING AND ORGANIC AND MINERAL FERTILIZERS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF OKRA Abelmoschus esclentus L. UNDER UNHEATED GREENHOUSES

The experiment included 8 treatments which are possible combinations of two seed treatments before planting (without soaking and soaking in water for 12 hours) and three levels of fertilizer (10 tons. Kg -1 organic fertilizer + 500 kg S h -1 agricultural sulfur, 20 tons kg -1 organic fertilizer + 750 Kg S h -1 agricultural sulfur, 30 tons kg -1 organic fertilizer +1000 kg S h -1 agricultural sulfur) in addition to the comparison treatment (without fertilization)

The split-plot design was carried out as a one-time split-plot design according to the Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D) and with three iterations for each treatment. The arithmetic means of the transactions were compared using the L.S.D test at a 0.05 level of significance. The most important results are summarized as follows:

The results showed significant superiority of seed soaking before planting in vegetative growth characteristics such as plant height, a number of side branches, and chemical characteristics such as leaf content of total chlorophyll and the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the leaves, and soaking the seeds before planting resulted in a significant increase in the overall productivity of the plant. An increase of 123.64% compared to not soaking the seeds

The results also showed a significant superiority for adding organic and mineral fertilizers together in all the characteristics of vegetative growth, chemical characteristics, and quantitative yield, especially at the levels 20 tons kg -1 organic fertilizer + 750 kg S h -1 agricultural sulfur and 30 tons kg -1organic fertilizer +1000 kg S h -1 agricultural sulfur.