RESPONSE OF TWO SQUASH (CUCURBITA PEPO L.) CULTIVARS TO PSEUDOMONAS FLUORESCENS INOCULATION AND FOLIAR APPLICATION OF CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM

Ali Mohsen Essa

doi:10.70604/jmtbas.v3i2.193

Authors

Ali Mohsen Essa Department of Chemistry, College of Education, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens inoculation and foliar spraying calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) on growth, yield and fruit quality parameters of two summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cultivars (Naji F1 and Almas F1) during the spring season of 2024 at the Agricultural Research Station, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq. The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomised complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments consisted of three levels of P. fluorescens inoculation (0, 5 × 10 7 and 10 × 10 7 CFU mL −1 ), two concentrations of calcium chloride (0 and 3 g L −1 ) and two concentrations of magnesium sulphate (0 and 2 g L −1 ). The results demonstrated that the inoculation of P. fluorescens at higher dose coupled with foliar spray of Ca + Mg considerably increased plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight and total yield over the untreated control. Overall stronger vegetative growth features were observed in the cultivar Naji F1 while better fruit quality indices were observed in the cultivar Almas F1. The triple interaction of P. fluorescens, Ca and Mg showed a synergistic impact that increased the total output by 38.6 % above the control. The chlorophyll content, absorption of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium in leaf tissues were also boosted. The results indicate that the combined application of bioinoculant with mineral foliar nutrition may be a feasible method for sustained squash production in semi-arid settings.

Keywords:

Cucurbita pepo, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Calcium, Magnesium, Foliar application, Bioinoculant, PGPR, Summer squash, Cultivar response, Sustainable agriculture

DOI

https://doi.org/10.70604/jmtbas.v3i2.193

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