Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 4(2), 2011

Ozean Journal of Applied Sciences 4(2), 2011 ISSN 1943-2429 2011 Ozean Publication

EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF ZINC SULFATE AND BORIC ACID ON GROWTH, YIELD AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF IRIS PLANTS

KHALIFA, R. KH. M. , S.H.A. SHAABAN and *RAWIA A. Department of Fertilization Technology, Department of ORNAMENTAL Plants and Woody Trees, National Research Centre Dokki, Cairo, Egypt *Email address for correspondence: lobnasalah82@yahoo.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: A pot experiment was conducted on sandy soil during 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons in the green house of the National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. This work aimed to study influence the foliar spraying of zinc (as zinc sulphate) and boron (as boric acid) on growth parameters, bulblet, flower characteristics, chemical constituents and nutrients content of leaves and flowers. Zinc sulphate (Zn) at concentrations of 0.0, 1.5g/l, 3.0g/l and 4.5g/l and boric acid (B) at concentrations of 0.0, 5ppm, 10 ppm and 20 ppm were applied alone and in combinations twice as foliar spray, where the first was after 45days and the second was after 60 days of planting. Results showed that the foliar spraying of zinc sulphate or boric acid alone at all rates and as combinations significantly increased growth parameters, flowers characteristics and bulblet number and yield/plant as compared with the control treatment. The treatments also significantly increased leaves carbohydrate, pigment, nutrients, i.e. N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and B content, as well as carbohydrate and oil of flowers (%) and its nutrients content as compared with the control. The most promising results were obtained from plants treated with Zn at 4.5g/l combined with 20 ppm B. Keywords: Iris plants, zinc (Zn), boron (B), chemical constituents, nutrient contents. ___________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

Ornamental plants is considered one of the very promising crop in Egypt, Iris plant is an important and popular cut flower grown everywhere in the world. Iris flowers bear an economic and aesthetic value for its beauty and elegance. The long flower spikes are excellent as cut flower for ornamentation when arranged in vases. Iris flowers are one main exportable flower and the foreign markets demand Egyptian flowers with high quality and must match the international standers of exportable flower. But the paramount problem the farmers are faceting judicial use of chemical fertilizers, the requirement of fertilizers like other crops has vital role in growth, quality of flowers, bulbs and bulbltes production, especially when grown in reclaimed soil. In this concern, Mahgoub et al. (2006) mentioned

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that further increments in nitrogen level 40g/m2 N+ 35gK/m2 recorded the highest values of plant highest, spike length and No. of flowers/spike of iris. Paradhan et al. (2004) also found that on gladiolus, combined application of N at 40/m2 and K at 30g/m2 recorded the highest values of plant, leaf area, spike length and No. of flowers/spike. Micronutrients had greatly affected on plant growth and development such as boron and zinc nutrients. The main function of boron related to cell wall strength and development, cell division, sugar transport, and hormones development, RNA metabolism, respiration, Indole acetic acid (IAA) metabolism and as part of the cell membranes (Marchner 1995). In gladiolus plant Halder et al. (2007a, b) found that application of boron at 2.5Kg/ha-1 could be suitable for maximizing yield and flower quality. Zinc plays an essential role in plant physiology where it activates some of enzymes and related to metabolism of carbohydrates, auxins, RNA and ribosome functions. The beneficial effect of zinc on several ornamental plants were studied, Farahat et al (2007) on Cupressus sempervirens L., Halder et al. (2007a,b) on gladiolus, Razin et al. (1992) on thyme. In a solution culture study (Grahn et al. 1987) reported that boron toxicity was more severs and appeared first in zinc deficient in barley plants compared with those supplied with adequate Zn, as reported by Singh et al. (1990), on wheat, Zn deficiency may enhance B absorption and transport to such an extent that B may possibly accumulate to toxic levels in plant tops. Therefore, the recent investigation aims to study the effect of zinc and boron application as well as their combinations on growth, flower characteristics, chemical constituents, mineral nutrient contents and flowers essential oil content of iris plant.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The pot experiment was conducted on sandy soil in the green house of the National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt, in 2007/ 2008 and 2008/2009 seasons to evaluate the response of growth, flowering, flower quality, bulblets production and chemical constituents of leaves and flowers of iris plants to foliar application of zinc, boron and their combinations.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Bulbs of iris obtained from ornamental plant research Dept., Ministry of Agricultural, Egypt were planted on December in pots (30 cm in diameter and 50 cm in depth) each pot was filled with media. The available commercially fertilizer used through this experimental work was kristalon (NPK 19:19:19) produced by phayzen company, Holland, and the fertilizer added rate was 5.0 g/pot after 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks from planting. There were sixteen treatment combination, comprising four levels of boron (0, 5, 10 and 20 ppm) as boric acid and four levels of Zn (0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 g/l) as zinc sulphate and the untreated plants (control) were sprayed with tap water. Before spraying, each pot was covered with foil paper to prevent any run off from the foliage to enter the media. Foliar application of B and Zn was carried out two times at 45 and 60 days from planting, starting at the first week of planting in both seasons. Other agricultural processes were performed according to normal practice. At the time of flowering, each treatment plants were chosen at random, and the following data were recorded, plant height, number of leaves, plant fresh and dry weight of leaves (g)/plant, spike length, length of inflorescence as well as fresh and dry weight of inflorescence (g) plant, flower width (cm), number of bulblet/plant and fresh and dry weight of bulblets/plant (g).

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CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Soil testing: Soil samples were taken before planting, air-dried and sieved through 2mm sieve. Physical & chemical characteristics were evaluated according to Ankerman and Large, 1974. Soil samples were analyzed for texture with a hydrometer (Bouyoucos, 1954), for pH and electric conductivity (EC) using water extract (1:2.5), (Jackson, 1973), for total calcium carbonate (CaCO 3%): calcimeter method was used as described by (Alison and Moodle, 1965). And for organic matter (O.M %) content was determined according to (Isaac and Johnson, 1984). Phosphorus was extracted using sodium bicarbonate (Olsen et al., 1954). Potassium (K+) was extracted using ammonium acetate (Jackson, 1973). Iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) were extracted using DPTA (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978). Boron contents of soils were extracted using boiling water method according to (Wolf 1974). The investigated soil characterized by 87% sand, 5% silt and 8% clay, pH 8.75, EC. 0.75 dS/m, OM. 0.45%, CaCO3 2.2%, available nutrients were as follow P 0.74 mg/100g, K 4.1 mg/100g, Fe 5.3 ppm, Mn 4.7 ppm, Zn 0.41 ppm, and boron 0.34 ppm. Pant analysis: Plant nutrients were determined as follows: Total nitrogen percentages were determined by using the micro kjeldahl method described by A.O.A.C (1980). Total P, K, Fe, Mn and Zn were extracted by using dry ashing technique acceding to Chapman and Pratt (1978). P was photo metrically determined using vanadate method and measured by spectrophotometer, while, potassium were measured by Flame photometer. Micronutrients were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Boron was determined by Azomethine-H method according to Wolf (1974). Fresh leaves of plant (g) were sampled to determine photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll and total carotenoids according to Saric et al. (1976). Another sample of leaves was dried at 70 o C to determine total carbohydrate % according to (Herbert et al.1971). The extracted essential oil was prepared by hydro-distillation of 200 g of fresh flower using Clevenger type apparatus for oils. Experimental design and statistical analysis: The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design having three replicates. The recorded data (means of the two growing seasons) were statistically analyzed according to the procedure of Snedecor and Cochran (1980) where the means of the studied treatments were compared using L.S.D test at 0.05 of probability.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1-Effect of zinc (Zn) and boron (B) on growth, yield and yield components: Data in Table (1) indicate that all either Zn or B rates significantly increased all growth traits yield and yield components of iris plant compared with the control plant. The tallest plants were resulted from the foliar spraying of Zn at the middle rate (3.0g/l) as well as fresh and dry weight of flowers. On the other hand iris plant sprayed with Zn at the higher rate (4.5g/l) gave the highest values of leave number/ plant, fresh and dry weight/ plant, fresh and dry weight of bulblt/plant, longest length of spike and inflorescence and highest width of flower. These results are in a good connection with those reported by Roy Chowdhury and Sarker (1995) and Halder et al. (2007a,b) on Gladiolus plant and corm and cormel production . The positive response of iris plant growth, yield and yield components due

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to Zn foliar spray may be attributed to its deficiency in studied soil. In addition, the important role of Zn come from its apparent requirement for the synthesis of optimum tryptophan (Precursor of IAA) levels and for the activation of enzymes involved in the synthesis of IAA, (Salisbury and Ross, 1992). Similar results also were obtained by Hassanien (1997) and Prabhat and Arora (2000) on Gladiolus cv. White Prosperity. In addition, El-Khayat (1999), mentioned that, spraying Antholyza aethiopica with Zn had a promoting effect on increasing the leaf number per plant. Moreover, Barman and Pal (1993) on Polianthes tuberose, Gomaa (2001) on amaryllis and Prabhat and Arora (2000) on Gladiolus, Manoly (1996) on Iris and Munikrishnappa et al., (2002) on Polionthes tuberose, and Samia and Mahmoud (2009), on Tritonia crocata, they found that spraying zinc sulphate increased plant height, number of leaves as well as fresh and dry weight of leaves. Regarding Boron (B) treatments effect, data presented in Table (1) reflected that all studied traits parameters were significantly responded to boron foliar application. It appeared that the B foliar spraying on Iris plants significantly increased plant growth parameters, yield and yield components and flowering traits studied. The middle rate of B concentration gave the highest plant height, highest number of bulblet/ plant, highest flower widths and highest fresh and dry weight of flowers/plant. While the highest B concentration rate treatment resulted the highest values of the following parameters i.e., leaves number/plant leaves fresh and dry weight of plant, bulblt fresh and dry weight of plants, highest length of spike and inflorescence. Similar findings were reported by Jhon et al. (1997a,b), Bhattacharjee and Misra. (1998) and Halder et al. (2007a,b) on Gladiolus. The positive effect of both zinc and boron on iris plant growth, yield and yield components and flowers characters may be attributed to the highly deficient of those nutrients of the experimental soils. The beneficial effect of boron may be due to its physiological role in plant. Boron facilitates transport of carbohydrates through cell membrane, i.e starch and sugars as well as plays an important role as an activator for many enzymes which promote plant growth and flower production (Donald et al., 1998). Parr and Laughman (1983) postulated that boron is involved in a number of metabolic pathways, i.e sugar transport, respiration, carbohydrate, RNA, IAA and phenol metabolism. Table 1: Main effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on growth, yield and yield components of iris plant (Mean data of the two seasons)
Spike length (cm) Plant height (cm) Fresh weight of flowers (g/plant) 7.00 7.07 8.15 8.02 0.14 7.39 7.75 8.36 7.62 0.18 Dry weight of flowers (g/plant) 0.65 0.73 0.78 0.78 0.03 0.65 0.75 0.80 0.74 0.02

Leaves fresh weight/plant (g)

Leaves dry weight/plant (g)

F.W of bulblt/plant (g)

Dry.W of bulblt/plant (g)

No. of leaves/plant

Treatments

Effect of zinc (Zn) Zero 1.5g/l 3.0g/l 4.5g/l L.S.D at 5% 32.38 33.46 36.17 35.99 0.53 11.96 12.71 12.95 13.13 0.19 11.09 12.45 13.74 13.93 0.20 2.90 3.36 3.53 3.62 0.48 9.81 11.33 11.82 12.38 0.48 17.43 20.20 22.17 24.14 1.42 3.34 3.89 4.16 4.58 1.1 7.42 8.69 8.95 0.09 0.11 5.76 6.78 7.58 8.09 0.22 9.66 10.63 10.98 11.09 0.11

Effect of boron (B) Zero 5 ppm 10 ppm 20 ppm L.S.D at 5% 32.86 33.49 35.90 35.74 0.22 10.58 12.40 13.87 13.90 0.58 11.99 12.60 13.29 13.33 00.38 2.55 2.88 4.03 4.07 0.11 7.85 11.17 13.32 13.01 1.48 10.00 17.06 20.63 28.75 2.35 2.19 2.59 5.13 5.31 0.32 7.38 8.28 9.06 9.44 0.28 6.36 6.66 7.32 7.88 0.15 10.18 10.79 11.02 10.38 0.13

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Flower widths (cm)

Length of Inflorescence (cm)

No. of bulblet/plant

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1.1. Interaction effect of B and Zn on growth, yield and yield components: The interaction of Zn and B was found statistically significant for all studied parameters like growth and flower characters of iris plants, Table (2). The integrated effect of Zn and B was found to be more distinctive as compared to the main effect of the same. It is also noticed in the Table (2) that increasing the rate of both Zn and B in the combinations resulted a promising response to the different growth and floral characters of iris plant. The analyzed soil data reveal that Zn and B were found to be critical level meant highly responsive to iris plant. The results in the same table revealed also that the combinations of the highest rates of Zn (4.5g/l) with either the middle or high rates (10 or 20 ppm) gave the highest values of all studied growth or flowers studied traits, with the exception of plant heighest, fresh and dry weight of flowers which recorded the highest values from the combination of the middle rate of both Zn and B ( Zn
3.0

+B10), which significantly differed over all other treatments and zinc-boron control

(Zn0B0).These results confirmed and supported by Halder et al. (2007a,b). Table 2: Interaction effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on growth, yield and yield components of iris plant (Mean data of the two seasons) Length of Inflorescence (cm) Flower widths (cm) Fresh weight of flowers (g/plant Dry weight of 6.00 7.41 7.58 7.34 7.57 7.58 8.75 7.54 7.97

Leaves fresh weight/plant (g) Leaves dry

bulblet/plant

Zn 0+ B 0ppm Zn 0+ B 5ppm Zn 0+ B 10ppm Zn 0+ B 20ppm Zn 1.5 + B 0ppm Zn 1.5+B 5ppm Zn 1.5+B 10ppm Zn 1.5+B 20ppm Zn 3.0 + B0

31.6 5 31.8 4 32.3 7 33.6 7 32.6 0 33.0 4 33..9 7 34.2 1 34.1

9.00 11.3 2 13.7 3 13.8 0 10.8 0 12.4 0 13.8 0 13.8 2 11.0

10.6 7 10.7 1 11.4 7 11.4 9 11.2 0 12.1 3 13.2 1 13.2 5 12.8

2.29

3.80 10.5 4 12.4 3 12.4 7 8.74 10.8 4 12.8 9 12.8 5 9.10

4.8

1.05

7.14

4.33

8.3 10.4 1 10.5 9 9.35 10.4 7 10.5 3 10.9 6 10.5 5 10.9

0.60

2.73

14.7 25.9 9 26.2 4 9.31 16.0 8 26.8 1 28.6 0 11.7

2.92

7.22

5.14

0.65

3.51

4.53

7.36

6.40

0.72

3.51

4.87

7.96

7.16

0.68

2.51

2.38

7.22

5.93

0.63

2.86

3.05

8.51

6.48

0.71

3.98

4.89

9.43

6.75

0.82

4.10 2.65

5.22 2.50

9.59 7.36

7.96 7.40

0.74 0.68

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flowers (g/plant)

Treatments

bulblt/plant (g) length Spike (cm)

weight/plant (g) of No.

Plant height (cm)

No. of leaves/plant

F.W of bulblt/plant (g) Dry.W of

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ppm Zn 3.0 + B 5ppm Zn 3.0 + B 10ppm Zn 3.0 + B 20ppm Zn 4.5+ B 0ppm Zn 4.5 + B 5ppm Zn 4.5 + B 10ppm Zn 4.5 + B 20ppm L.S.D 5%

0 35.2 3 39.3 4 35.9 9 33.1 0 33.8 5 37.9 2 39.1 0 0.16

3 12.8 7 13.9 3 13.9 5 11.5 13.0 0 14.0 0 14.0 3 0.06

9 13.5 8 14.2 1 14.2 6 13.2 0 13.9 8 14.2 5 14.3 0 0.01 2.93 11.3 4 13.5 4 13.3 3 9.80 11.9 4 14.4 0 13.3 9 0.15

1 18.1 3 29.7 8 29.0 5 14.1 9 19.3 1 31.9 4 31.1 0 1.28 3.58 8.55 7.20

7 11.0 0 11.1 9 10.7 4 10.9 8 11.2 1 11.3 2 10.8 6 0.03 8.00 0.82

4.26

5.31

9.78 10.0 9 7.79

7.66

8.90

0.85

4.28

5.26

8.07

7.73

0.77

2.73

2.84

7.79

8.00

0.69

2.99

3.82

8.84

7.80

8.02

0.82

4.37

5.77

9.65 10.1 0 0.04

8.46

8.21

0.82

4.29 0.03

5.89 0.53

8.31 0.31

7.85 0.03

0.78 0.02

2. Effect of Zn, B and their interaction on chemical constituents 2.1. Effect on leaf pigments, carbohydrate and flower oil and carbohydrate content: From the presentation in Table (3) and (4) data revealed that all Zn or B treatments significantly increased carbohydrate, chlorophyll, carotenoid and oil content of iris plants over the control treatment. It is clear from data also, that the high level of Zn (4.5g/L), resulted the highest values of carbohydrate, chl. (a), carotenoids and flower oil content, while the highest level of B (20ppm) gave the highest values of carbohydrate, chl.(b) and oil content of iris plant, while the middle level of Zn (3.0g/L) gave the highest chl. (b) content. On the other hand, the middle level of B (10ppm) resulted the highest content from chl. (a) and carotenoids. Referring to the interaction between Zn and B foliar treatments, it is obvious from Table (4) that all combination treatments of Zn and B significantly increased, carbohydrate, chl. (a), chl. (b), carotenoids and oil content compared with control treatment (Zn0+B0). It is also noticed in Table (4) that combination of Zn and B contributed more than their single applications, where the highest carbohydrate and oil content were obtained from the combination of the higher level of both Zn and B (Zn 4.5 + B20). On the other hand the highest values of chl. (a) and carotenoids content were attained from the treatment of high Zn level (4.5g/L) combined with the middle level of B (10ppm), while (Zn3.0 + B 20ppm) treatment combination gave the highest chl. (b) content. A similar trend of results was found by El-Khayat (1999), Gomaa (2001) and Samia and Mahmoud (2009), recorded that Zn increased total carbohydrate in Antholyza aethiopica and Tritonia crocata plants, respectively. Regarding the beneficial effect of Zn on photosynthetic pigments, may be due to its role in increasing the rates of photochemical reduction (Kumar et al, 1988), chloroplast structure, photosynthetic electron transfer as well as photosynthesis (Romheld and Marschner, 1991). Concering the beneficial effect of B may be due to its role in facilitates transport of carbohydrates, i.e. starch and sugar (Donald et al., 1998). The obtained results are in a conformity with those of Farahat et al., 2007, on cupressus sempervirens and Nahed and Laila, 2007, on salvia farinacea.

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Table 3: Main effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on some chemical constituents of flowers and bulbs of iris plant (Mean data of the two seasons) Carbohydrate % Treatments Leaves Flowers Chl. (a) Chl.(b) Total chl. Chlorophyll Carotenoid Oil of flowers (%)

Effect of zinc (Zn) Zero 1.5g/l 3.0g/l 4.5g/l L.S.D at 5% 16 18 21 22 2 0.24 0.27 0.31 0.34 0.03 1.70 1.79 1.84 1.90 0.04 0.49 0.58 1.19 1.06 0.003 2.17 2.37 3.02 2.92 0.004 0.632 0.638 0.639 0.643 0.003 0.18 0.26 0.30 0.32 0.002

Effect of boron (B) Zero 5 ppm 10 ppm 20 ppm L.S.D at 5% 12 16 24 25 1 0.16 0.25 0.37 0.38 0.02 1.27 1.52 2.30 2.14 0.03 0.79 0.81 0.86 0.87 0.001 2.06 2.32 3.14 2.98 0.18 0.539 0.646 0.691 0.676 0.004 0.19 0.23 0.31 0.33 0.001

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Table 4: Interaction effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on some chemical constituents of flowers and bulbs of iris plant ((Mean data of the two seasons) Carbohydrate % Treatments Leaves Zn 0+ B 0ppm Zn 0+ B 5ppm Zn 0+ B 10ppm Zn 0+ B 20ppm Zn 1.50 + B0ppm Zn 1.50+B 5ppm Zn 1.50+B 10ppm Zn 1.50+B 20ppm Zn 3.0 + B 0ppm Zn 3.0 + B 5ppm Zn 3.0 + B 10ppm Zn 3.0 + B 20ppm Zn 4.5 + B0ppm Zn 4.5 + B 5ppm Zn 4.5 + B 10ppm Zn 4.5 + B 20ppm L.S.D 5% 10 12 20 21 11 14 23 24 13 17 25 27 14 19 27 29 0. 1 Flowers 0.11 0.18 0.32 0.33 0.13 0.24 0.35 0.36 0.17 0.28 0.38 0.39 0.22 0.30 0.42 0.43 0.002 Chl. (a) 1.08 1.37 2.04 2.32 1.25 1.44 2.28 2.18 1.33 1.58 2.32 2.11 1.42 1.68 2.57 1.93 0.002 Chl.(b) 0.42 0.45 0.53 0.56 0.48 0.52 0.64 0.67 1.11 1.16 1.23 1.25 1.13 1.09 1.02 0.98 0.001 Total chl. 1.50 1.82 2.57 2.85 1.73 1.96 2.92 2.85 2.46 2.74 3.55 3.36 2.55 2.77 3.52 2.91 0.03 0.531 0.632 0.682 0.684 0.536 0.646 0.687 0.681 0.541 0.651 0.693 0.672 0.547 0.656 0.702 0.665 0.001 Chlorophyll Cartoniod Oil of flowers (%) 0.13 0.16 0.20 0.23 0.15 0.23 0.31 0.33 0.21 0.26 0.35 0.37 0.25 0.28 0.36 0.37 0.001

2.2. Effect on leaves and flowers nutrient contents: Results of the effects of Zn and B foliar spray and their interaction treatments on nutrient contents of leaves and flowers are presented in Tables (5, 6, 7 and 8). The data revealed that Zn foliar application treatments significantly increased leaves and flowers nutrients content, i.e N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and B as compared with the control treatment. It was also observed that all nutrients with the exception of Fe and B in leaves were gradually increased with increasing the level of Zn from 1.5 g/l to 4.5 g/l, while Fe and B content of leaves and B content of flowers were gradually increased only with increasing level of Zn from 1.5g/l to 3.0g/l, then significantly depressed with

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the higher level of Zn treatment (4.5g/l). These results of enhancing leaves and flowers nutrient contents as a result of Zn foliar spraying may be due to that Zn is essential for sugar regulation and enzymes that control plant growth, Havlin et al., (1999). The obtained results are in conformity with those of El-Khayat (1999), Gomaa, (2001) on Antholyza aethiopica, Yadav et al., (2002) on tuberose and Samia and Mahmoud (2009) on Tritonia crocata, also, Nahed and Laila, (2007) on Salvia Farinacea plants, Farahat et al., (2007) on Cupressus sempervirens and Rawia et al., 2010 on tuberose. Concerning the foliar application of B treatments, it is clear from the data in Tables (5&7) that foliar spraying of B at the all levels of concentrations significantly increased nutrients content, i.e N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and B in both leaves and flowers. Results also indicated that macro and micronutrients content of leaves and flowers were significantly increased with increasing level of B, except N and Mn of leaves content between 10 and 20 ppm and also, P of leaves content between 5 and 10 ppm. On the other hand Mn concentration in flowers showed significant depression with augmenting of B level from 10 to 20 ppm concentration. These results are in agreement with those recorded by Donald et al., (1998), El-Shazly et al., 2003, Shaaban and El-Sayed, 2005 and Khalifa et al. 2009, they mentioned that boron promoted more nutrients uptake and assimilation. Table 5: Effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on nutrient content of iris plant leaves (Mean data of the two seasons) Treatments N % P % K % Fe (ppm) Mn (ppm) Zn (ppm) B (ppm)

Effect of zinc (Zn) Zero 1.5g/l 3.0g/l 4.5g/l L.S.D at 5% 2.40 3.42 3.87 4.18 0.09 0.32 0.40 0.47 0.49 0.001 2.59 2.91 3.18 3.38 0.02 195.0 194.5 188.5 183.3 0.03 60.25 72.75 76.70 78.30 1.48 57.4 66.4 71.6 78.6 4.3 12.85 14.23 15.53 14.65 0.05

Effect of boron (B) Zero 5 ppm 10 ppm 20 ppm L.S.D at 5% 2.62 3.09 4.02 4.09 0.12 0.29 0.44 0.46 0.49 0.003 2.43 2.73 3.21 3.70 0.01 181.0 184.0 192.2 204.1 0.8 56.75 74.13 78.58 78.50 2.45 55.7 58.0 76.6 81.3 1.4 12.73 13.23 15.05 16.25 0.03

Regarding the interaction between Zn and B, the data presented in Tables (6) and (8) revealed that all nutrients content, i.e. N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and B concentration in leaves and flowers were significantly affected due to all combinations of Zn and B treatments,. The highest values of leaves N, P, K, Zn, and B content were attained from the treatment of 4.5g/l Zn+B 20ppm, while, the highest values of Fe and Mn were obtained from the treatments of Zn 0 + B 20ppm and Zn 4.5g/l +B 10ppm, respectively. In addition, the highest values of flowers nutrients content, i.e. N, P, K, Fe and Zn due to the interactions between Zn and B were attained from the combination treatment of (Zn 4.5g/l + B 20ppm), while, the highest values of Mn and B were recorded from (Zn 4.5g/l+ B 10 ppm) and (Zn 1.5g/l +B 20ppm) combinations treatments, respectively.

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Table 6: Interaction effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on nutrient content of iris plant leaves (Mean data of the two seasons) Treatments Zn 0+ B0ppm Zn 0+ B 5 ppm Zn 0+ B10 ppm Zn 0+ B 20 ppm Zn 1.50 + B0ppm Zn 1.50+B 5 ppm Zn 1.50+B 10 ppm Zn 1.50+B 20 ppm Zn 3.0 + B 0ppm Zn 3.0 + B 5 ppm Zn 3.0 + B 10 ppm Zn 3.0 + B 20 ppm Zn 4.5 + B0ppm Zn 4.5 + B 5 ppm Zn 4.5 + B 10 ppm Zn 4.5 + B 20 ppm L.S.D 5% N % 2.25 2.35 2.60 2.40 2.40 2.85 4.15 4.40 2.90 3.35 4.55 4.65 2.90 4.15 4.75 4.90 0.02 P % 0.21 0.38 0.35 0.32 0.25 0.41 0.45 0.48 0.34 0.47 0.51 0.56 0.35 0.49 0.53 0.58 0.001 K % 1.91 2.16 2.86 3.42 2.26 2.61 3.11 3.67 2.61 2.95 3.41 3.76 2.91 3.21 3.46 3.95 0.002 Fe (ppm) 180.4 185.8 194.7 219.2 185.6 187.0 195.2 210.0 182.1 183.0 192.0 197.0 176.0 180.0 187.0 190.0 0.02 Mn (ppm) 53.0 57.0 63.0 68.0 55.3 77.4 79.6 78.7 58.4 79.8 85.4 83.2 60.3 82.3 86.3 84.1 0.83 Zn (ppm) 40.2 44.2 72.0 73.0 52.4 58.1 73.6 81.3 65.3 63.3 74.3 83.4 73.8 66.4 86.5 87.6 0.63 B (ppm) 10.7 11.3 13.7 15.7 12.6 13.6 14.8 15.9 14.9 13.8 16.9 16.5 12.7 14.2 14.8 16.9 0.01

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Table 7: Effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on nutrient content of iris plant flowers ((Mean data of the two seasons) Treatments N% P% K% Fe (ppm) Mn (ppm) Zn (ppm) B (ppm)

Effect of zinc (Zn) Zero 1.5g/l 3.0g/l 4.5g/l L.S.D at 5% 1.10 1.13 1.20 1.23 0.025 0.105 0.133 0.165 0.183 0.011 1.14 1.31 1.38 1.44 0.02 171.83 174.55 178.9 180.93 0.43 42.73 45.8 48.28 48.38 0.54 34.88 48.88 52.10 54.40 1.32 6.65 5.85 7.90 7.48 0.14

Effect of boron (B) Zero 5 ppm 10 ppm 20 ppm L.S.D at 5% 0.95 1.06 1.31 1.35 0.015 0.073 0.118 0.183 0.213 0.021 0.88 1.11 1.24 2.03 0.06 168.18 168.40 183.40 186.23 0.81 39.18 44.55 51.05 50.40 0. 18 37.43 42.78 52.30 57.75 2.28 5.75 7.15 8.00 8.73 0.23

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Table 8: Interaction effect of zinc and boron foliar spray on nutrient content of iris plant flowers ((Mean data of the two seasons) Treatments Zn 0+ B0ppm Zn 0+ B 5ppm Zn 0+ B 10ppm Zn 0+ B 20ppm Zn 1.50 + B0ppm Zn 1.50+B 5ppm Zn 1.50+B 10ppm Zn 1.50+B 20ppm Zn 3.0 + B 0ppm Zn 3.0 + B 5ppm Zn 3.0 + B 10ppm Zn 3.0 + B 20ppm Zn 4.5 + B0ppm Zn 4.5 + B 5ppm Zn 4.5 + B 10ppm Zn 4.5 + B 20ppm L.S.D 5% N % 0.90 0.97 1.21 1.29 0.93 0.99 1.29 1.32 0.97 1.11 1.35 1.37 0.98 1.16 1.37 1.41 0.005 P % 0.04 0.07 0.14 0.17 0.06 0.12 0.16 0.19 0.08 0.13 0.21 0.24 0.11 0.15 0.22 0.25 0.001 K % 0.81 0.97 1.16 1.63 0.82 1.18 1.19 2.05 0.91 1.11 1.26 2.17 0.96 1.19 1.34 2.28 0.01 Fe (ppm) 160.4 165.7 178.3 182.9 163.6 167.4 182.5 184.7 172.3 169.2 185.7 188.4 176.4 171.3 187.1 188.9 0.03 Mn (ppm) 35.8 41.2 45.7 48.2 37.9 43.4 51.5 50.4 41.2 46.7 53.2 52.0 41.8 46.9 53.8 51.0 0.05 Zn (ppm) 28.6 31.3 38.2 41.4 35.4 44.7 54.1 61.3 41.2 46.2 57.4 63.6 44.5 48.9 59.5 64.7 0.83 B (ppm) 5.3 6.8 7.4 9.1 5.8 7.1 8.2 9.3 6.2 7.5 8.4 9.5 5.7 7.2 8.0 9.0 0.02

CONCLUSION

From the previous results it could be concluded that: Zn and B foliar spray is necessary and important for iris plants grown on Zn and B deficient soils. Foliar spraying with Zn as zinc sulphate at concentration of 4.5g/l or B as boric acid at concentration of 20 ppm and their combination two times of 45 and 60 days intervals, starting at the first week of planting significantly increased growth, yield and yield components as well as improved leaves

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and flowers nutrients content and plant chemical constituents, i.e. pigments, carbohydrates and flowers oil concentration.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was conducted as a part of the Egypt-German Project Micronutrients and Other Plant Nutrition Problems executed by the National Research Centre (NRC), Fertilization Technology Department (Coordinator, Prof. Dr. M.M. El-Fouly) and the Institute for Plant Nutrition, Technical University, Munich (Prof. Dr. A. Amberger). The Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) and the German Federal Ministry of Technical Cooperation (BMZ) through the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), supported the project

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