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Middle East Journal of Agriculture Volume : 08 | Issue : 02 | April-June | 2019 Research Pages:495-505 ISSN 2077-4605

Effect of bio and chemical fertilization on growth and chemical composition of mahagoni seedlings under different growing media

N.M. Youssef 1, E. El. Habba1, N.G. Abdel Aziz1, A.A. Mazher1, A.M.Z. Sarhan2 and A.M. S. Arafa2

1Ornamental and Woody Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Egypt. 2Ornamental Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. Received: 10 Mar. 2019 / Accepted 28 April 2019 / Publication date: 05 May 2019

ABSTRACT This study was carried out at the Experimental Area of the National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt during the two successive seasons 2013 – 2014 to the effect of growing media, NPK and bio fertilization on growth and chemical composition of seedlings. The results showed that growing the plants in clay soil increased height, fresh and dry weight of , in both seasons and number of leaves / plant in the second season. While, the mixing clay with sand (1:1 v/v) gave the highest values of fresh and dry weight of the stems, chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids and total carbohydrates in leaves in both seasons. The lowest values of all previous parameters were found with sand soil alone. Concerning, effect of fertilization treatments we found when adding 6 g of NPK alone increased plant height, fresh and dry weight of leaves, in two seasons. Using 10 ml of microbien plus 6 g of NPK treatment gave the best results of number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of the stems and total carbohydrates in leaves in both seasons and total carbohydrates in the roots in the first season .While, application 20 ml of microbien and 6 gm of NPK / plant treatment recorded the highest values of chlorophyll a, carotenoids, total carbohydrates in the stems in two seasons, also, chlorophyll b and total carbohydrates in the roots, in the second season .The interaction between growing media and fertilization treatments on vegetative growth and chemical constituents. Using 10 ml of microbien plus 6 g of NPK with mixing soil clay and sand (1:1 v/v) gave the best results of fresh and dry weight of stems and total carbohydrates in leaves in both seasons, and total carbohydrates in the roots in the first season. Application 20 ml of microbien and 6 gm of NPK / plant with mixture of clay: soil (1:1 v/v) showed the highest values of chlorophyll a, carotenoids, total carbohydrate in the stems in the two seasons. Also, resulted the highest values of chlorophyll b, total carbohydrate in roots in the second season. Microbien at 20 ml and NPK at 4 gm with mixture clay: sand treatments was the best for increasing chlorophyll b content in the first season. The plants grown in clay soil and treated with 10 ml microbien plus 6 g NPK recorded the highest values of number of leaves in both seasons. The plants grown in clay soil and treated with 6 g of NPK produced the highest values of plant height in both seasons.

Keywords: Swietenia mahagoni seedlings, growing media, NPK fertilizer, bio fertilizer, vegetative growth, chemical composition.

Introduction Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. is a from family that is a tropical hard tree. It is known to be a very valuable timber tree and it is one of the best 12 timber in the world. It has a heavy, extremely strong, stable and decay resistant trunk (Ali et al, 2011). The tree is tall and can reach up 30 meter high. It is wide of about 1 meter in diameter. It is spherical crown with many heavy branches and dense shade. Wood carvers use a significant amount of the wood in sculpture and turnery. Swietenia mahagoni is a medicinal plant throughout the Caribbean. The is used as an astringent and is as an oral decoction for diarrhea, it is also used as medicine to hemorrhage and as source of vitamins and iron, increase appetite, and restore strength in tuberculosis victims. Swietenia mahagoni is an ornamental tree in various parts of India for it provides deep shade (Orwa et al., 2009). Growing media are the substrates in which a plant will grow. They give the plant the needed anchorage for the roots; air spaces to allow respiration; and retain sufficient available water to enable

Corresponding Author: N.M. Youssef, Ornamental Plants and Woody Trees Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Egypt. 495 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605 plant growth. The differences between the growing media are due to the variation in its physical and chemical characteristics. Tree seedlings are usually planted in fertile growing media such as clay, and sometimes in unfertile one such as sand; sandy soil can be improved by mixing it with clay, particularly in the new reclaimed lands. No doubt, characteristics of growing media play a role of the almost importance that determining the behavior of a given plant especially growth and development of its root system which will be reflected positively/ negatively, on the other plant organs and consequently on its whole life cycle. In this connection, moisture capacity, air economy, drainage properties permeability nutrient balance, ph. and buffer capacity, heat balance, physical stability as well as others are the considerable characteristics (Conover and Poole, 1988). El-Assaly (2011) on senegalensis seedlings and Youssef (2011) on nigra reported that clay medium stimulated the growth compared to other growing media. While, Habba et al. (2016) on Populus euramericana seedlings and El-Mahrouk et al. (2009) on Cestrum aurantiacum showed that mixture sand with clay (1:1 v/v) increased the growth compared with clay or sandy soil. Chemical fertilization, especially N. P. K. stimulates the vegetative growth of the seedlings. Nitrogen is a very effective element because it is a vital constituent of proteins, alkaloids, amino acids, some vitamins and co- enzymes. There for, it possesses a very important role in metabolism, growth, reproduction and heredity. Phosphorus is closely concerned with the vital growth processes in plants and as it is present in all cell nuclei as phosphoric acid combined with other constituents to from nucleic acid. It is also of great importance in root growth. Potassium plays an important role in metabolism such as the formation of carbohydrates and proteins, the regulation of water conditions within the plant cell and water loss by transpiration and photosynthesis process (Jain, 1983). Bio-fertilizers are microbial inoculants used for application to either or soil for increasing soil fertility with objective of increasing the number of such micro-organisms and to accelerate certain microbial processes. Such microbiological processes can change unavailable forms of nutrients into available ones that can be easily assimilated by plants (Subba Rao, 2001). Microbien is a bio-fertilizer which containing nitrogen fixing bacteria Azotobacter sp. Azospirillum sp and pseudomonas sp as well as phosphate dissolving bacteria Bacillus megaterium. Biofertilizers naturally activate the microorganisms found in the soil restoring the soil's natural fertility and protecting it against drought and soil diseases and therefore stimulate plant growth (Han et al., 2006). The aim of this investigation was to investigate the effectiveness of bio and NPK fertilizers in different types of soils (clay, sand and mixture of them 1:1v/v) on growing characters of Swietenia mahagoni seedlings. Materials and Methods

This study has been carried out at the Ornamental Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza. The experiment of this investigation were carried out at the Experimental Area of the National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo during the two successive seasons 2013 and 2014 to investigate the effect of growing media, NPK fertilization and bio fertilization on growth and chemical composition of Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. seedlings. Homogenous seedlings of West Indian Swietenia mahagoni (one-year-old, 20-25 cm height, and 4-6 compound /plant in average) were used as a plant material. The seedlings introduced from the Forestry Department, Horticulture Research Institute, The experiment was under open field conditions through the two seasons. The seedlings were transplanted on March 15th 2013and 2014 for the first and second seasons respectively. Seedlings were transplanted in 30 cm clay pots (one seedling/pot) filled with one of the different growing media were as follows; clay, sand, and the mixture of them 1:1 (V/V). The plants were located under open field condition and irrigation was done according to the plants need. The physical and chemical properties of the different media were determined according to Chapman and Pratt (1961) and are shown in Table (1): After one month from transplanting the plants received the first application of NPK fertilizers. The Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. seedlings were fertilized with different rates (0, 4 and 6 g/pot 30 cm) of Kristalon (NPK 19:19:19), produced by Phayzon Company, Holland. Plants were fertilized 8 times during the growing season starting from April 15th till November 15th at 30 days intervals. The fertilizers were applied as top dressing to the pots then irrigation water was added. Commercial biofertilizer (a fresh inocula), microbien was used. The microbien was obtained from General

496 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

Organization for Agricultural Equalization Fund (G.O.A.E.F) under control of Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt.

Table 1: Physical and chemical analysis of the growing media used in the experiment. a. Physical analysis Soil sample Coarse sand% Fine sand % Silt + Clay % Clay 43.0 13.0 44.0 Sand 72.5 16.5 11.0 b. Chemical analysis Soil E.C. Anion (meq/L.) Cation (meq/L.) pH - - ++ ++ + + sample dS/m HCO3 Cl SO4-- Ca Mg Na K Clay 0.40 8.47 1.6 1.50 1.12 1.5 0.8 1.7 0.22 Sand 0.20 7.76 0.6 0.75 0.85 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.2

The plants were received the first application of bio fertilizer after three months from transplanting (June 15th) and the second application after two months from the first application (August 15th). Plants were fertilized with different rates (10 and 20 ml/pot 30 cm) of microbien.

Layout of the experiment The layout of the experiment was sitting completely randomized in factorial experiment design as included 27 treatments (3 growing media x 9 fertilizers) with 5 replicates. Each replicate contained one plant. The following data were recorded on December 15th 2013and 2014 at the end of the growth period:- Plant height (cm), number of leaves/plant and fresh and dry weight of leaves, stems and roots (g / plant). The chemical composition:- Pigments (chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids) content in were determined in leaf samples (mg/g F.W.) according to Nornai (1982). Total carbohydrates (% D.W.) in leaves, stems, and roots were determined according to Dubois et al. (1956).

Statistical analysis The data on vegetative and chemical traits of the two seasons were statistically analyzed as described by Snedecor and Cochran (1980). Means of all characters were compared by L.S.D test at 0.05 level of significance.

Results and Discussion Data presented in Tables (2 to 5) show that, clay soil significantly increased plant height (140.72 and 145.09 cm), fresh weight of leaves (75.45 and 92.34gm), dry weights of leaves (21.75 and 26.50 gm) in the first and second seasons, respectively and number of leaves (57.41) In second season of Swietenia mahagoni seedlings when compared with mixing clay with sand (1: 1 v/v) or sandy soil. The primitive effect of clay soil may be due to its chemical and physical characteristics, which proved that clay was a fertile growing medium, compared with the mixture or sand media, these results were in the agreement with those obtained by Azza et al. (2010) on Jatropha curcas and Youssef (2011) on found that using clay soil had favorable effect on increasing growth comparing with mixture of clay+ sand or the sand media. All fertilization treatments increased all the parameters mentioned above of Swietenia mahagoni seedlings compared with the control in both seasons. The plants which fertilized with N.P.K 6gm / plant were the tallest giving a height ranging from 140.39 and 141.28cm ,the heaviest fresh and dry weight of leaves which recorded 79.37 and 95.93gm and 23.14 and 27.13 gm when plants treated with N.P.K 6gm/ plant in the first and second seasons, respectively. Whereas, the highest values of leaves number were obtained from application of microbien at 10ml / plant and NPK fertilization at the rate of 6gm/ plant (43.00 and 58.22) in the both seasons, respectively compared with other treatments. These results are in harmony with El-Sallami and Mahros (1997) on Thuja orientalis, El-Quesni et al. (2010) on Schefflera arboricola , El-Assaly (2011) on Khaya senegalensis and Youssef (2014) on Beaucarnea recurvata.

497 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

Table 2: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on plant height (cm) of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 130.33 106.50 84.33 107.06 127.00 113.33 86.00 108.78 NPK (4 g ) 142.33 124.83 121.67 129.61 148.33 121.00 119.17 129.50 NPK (6 g ) 152.50 138.67 130.00 140.39 163.00 136.00 124.83 141.28 M ( 10 ml) 136.00 125.50 89.50 117.00 136.00 128.33 89.67 118.00 M 10ml + NPK 4g 138.00 130.83 95.33 121.39 138.00 137.33 92.50 122.61 M 10ml + NPK 6g 140.67 128.33 106.33 125.11 149.67 138.00 104.33 130.67 M ( 20 ml) 139.00 127.00 93.67 119.89 140.83 135.33 98.33 124.83 M 20ml + NPK 4g 142.00 140.67 118.00 133.56 147.33 144.17 102.33 131.28 M 20ml + NPK 6g 145.67 142.50 107.33 131.83 155.67 151.67 108.83 138.72 Mean 140.72 129.43 105.13 145.09 133.91 102.89 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 1.78 Fertilizer: 3.09 Interactions: 5.36 Media: 1.91 Fertilizer: 3.31 Interactions: 5.74

Table 3: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on number of leaves of Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 28.00 30.67 19.67 26.11 43.67 41.33 29.00 38.00 NPK (4 g ) 34.00 36.33 20.67 30.33 54.67 47.33 32.00 44.67 NPK (6 g ) 36.00 38.67 24.67 33.11 62.67 55.00 40.00 52.56 M ( 10 ml) 30.00 34.00 22.00 28.67 52.33 49.67 36.00 46.00 M 10ml + NPK 4g 40.67 41.00 30.33 37.33 57.33 53.00 46.00 52.11 M 10ml + NPK 6g 47.33 43.33 38.33 43.00 66.67 62.00 46.00 58.22 M ( 20 ml) 32.00 38.33 26.67 32.33 58.67 55.67 41.00 51.78 M 20ml + NPK 4g 39.00 42.00 28.33 36.44 61.00 60.00 46.00 55.67 M 20ml + NPK 6g 41.33 42.67 32.00 38.67 59.67 58.33 42.67 53.56 Mean 36.48 38.56 26.96 57.41 53.59 39.85

M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 1.28 Fertilizer: 2.21 Interactions: 3.83 Media: 1.65 Fertilizer: 2.85 Interactions: 4.94

Table 4: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on fresh weights of leaves (g) of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay, clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 43.40 40.30 31.7 38.47 61.20 56.60 47.1 54.97 NPK (4 g ) 77.30 58.90 43.9 60.03 93.30 77.20 64.2 78.23 NPK (6 g ) 95.50 86.30 56.3 79.37 113.50 92.80 81.5 95.93 M ( 10 ml) 66.40 54.70 50.8 57.30 85.60 80.40 50.9 72.30 M 10ml + NPK 4g 73.40 63.73 57.1 64.74 94.50 90.00 66.5 83.67 M 10ml + NPK 6g 84.80 76.80 54.2 71.93 78.90 83.00 75.2 79.03 M ( 20 ml) 68.93 60.40 55.6 61.64 96.00 89.70 51.1 78.93 M 20ml + NPK 4g 89.80 79.60 60.9 76.77 106.80 98.77 69.0 91.52 M 20ml + NPK 6g 79.50 64.90 74.0 72.80 101.30 94.50 70.8 88.87 Mean 75.45 65.07 53.8 92.34 84.77 64.0

M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 1.62 Fertilizer: 2.81 Interactions: 4.84 Media: 1.39 Fertilizer: 2.41 Interactions: 4.17

498 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

Table 5: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on dry weights of leaves (g) of Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 10.63 9.80 7.63 9.36 15.47 14.20 11.40 13.69 NPK (4 g ) 22.47 15.50 10.90 16.29 26.40 20.47 16.43 21.10 NPK (6 g ) 29.13 26.07 14.23 23.14 33.73 25.40 22.27 27.13 M ( 10 ml) 18.47 14.10 12.77 15.11 23.97 21.80 12.53 19.43 M 10ml + NPK 4g 20.77 17.27 14.90 17.64 26.80 25.20 17.30 23.10 M 10ml + NPK 6g 25.43 22.13 13.83 20.47 24.20 22.90 19.77 22.29 M ( 20 ml) 19.30 16.00 14.10 16.47 27.17 24.93 12.73 21.61 M 20ml + NPK 4g 26.17 23.63 16.50 22.10 30.87 28.53 18.00 25.80 M 20ml + NPK 6g 23.37 18.87 21.17 21.13 29.93 27.23 18.13 25.10 Mean 21.75 18.15 14.00 26.50 23.41 16.51

M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.91 Fertilizer: 1.57 Interactions: 2.73 Media: 0.94 Fertilizer: 1.63 Interactions: 2.83

The stimulatory effect of chemical fertilization, particularly NPK fertilization may be due to the role of individual element N, P or K, since nitrogen is an essential constituent of proteins, nucleic acids, porphyries, alkaloids, some vitamins and co-enzymes. Phosphorus promotes root growth, and potassium plays an important role in metabolism such as photo synthesis (Devlin, 1975). Regarding the effect of growing media combined with biofertilizer (microbien) and NPK fertilizer (Kristalon) treatments on plant height, fresh and dry weight of leaves and number of leaves in both seasons, it is obvious from Tables (2:5) that all treatments increased the previous characters compared to the sandy soil treatment. The clay soil with 6gm of NPK treatment significantly increased the plant height 152.50 and 163.00 cm in the first and second seasons, respectively. Also, this treatment gave the heaviest fresh and dry weights of leaves (95.50 and 113.50gm), (29.13 and 33.73gm) in two seasons, respectively. While, clay soil combination with microbien at 10 ml and NPK at 6gm / plant treatment produced the highest number of leaves / plant (47.33 and 66.67) in both seasons, respectively, compared with other treatments. Plants grown in sandy soil without bio or chemical fertilization gave the lowest values in both seasons. Results in Tables (6 and 7) showed that fresh and dry weight of stems of Swietenia mahagoni plants were significantly affected by the different soil types. The mixture of clay and sand soil significantly increased the fresh and dry weight of stems (100.99 and 144.53gm), (34.89 and 50.57 gm) in both seasons, respectively, compared with other media. On the other hand, fresh and dry weight of stems of plants grown in sand reached to lowest values in both seasons (67.89 and 80.51gm), (21.61 and 24.96 gm) in two seasons, respectively. In agreement with those obtained by Maharos (1999) on Polianthes tuberose plants, Mahmood (2005) on Caesalpinia pulcherrima and Thevetia peruviana seedlings, and Habba et al. (2016) on Populus euramericana showed that mixture sand with clay (1:1 v/v)increased the fresh and dry weight of stems, compared with other media. Concerning, the effect of fertilization on fresh and dry weight of stems, using microbien at 10ml plus 6gm of NPK treatment significantly increased the fresh and dry weight of stems (112.73 and 128.17gm) (39.62 and 44.10 gm), in the first and second seasons, respectively, compared with other treatments. The same results were found by Taha (1994) on Cordia myxa, Shehata (1995) on Poinciana regia, Ahmed and Aly (1998) on Acacia saligna and El-Assaly (2011) on Khaya senegalensis showed that NPK of application increased stem fresh and dry weight compared with untreated plants. Hashish (2011) Paulownia seedlings found that inoculate plants with microbien increased fresh and dry weight of stem compared with the control plant. Seedlings grown in mixture of clay and sand soil (1:1 v/v) and fertilized with 10 ml of microbien plus 6gm of NPK gave the heaviest fresh and dry weight of stem (129.30 and 171.60gm), (46.57 and 61.77gm) in both seasons, respectively, Whereas untreated seedlings grown in sandy soil produced the lowest fresh and dry weight of stems in two seasons.

499 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

Table 6: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on fresh weights of stems (g) of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 56.60 57.10 51.20 54.97 96.80 100.00 66.30 87.70 NPK (4 g ) 68.90 77.20 53.90 66.67 117.70 142.50 77.80 112.67 NPK (6 g ) 90.00 108.50 60.90 86.47 123.00 159.80 81.40 121.40 M ( 10 ml) 87.40 97.60 58.80 81.27 103.90 129.70 73.20 102.27 M 10ml + NPK 4g 100.40 103.00 66.40 89.93 119.60 149.93 83.40 117.64 M 10ml + NPK 6g 124.80 129.30 84.10 112.73 127.20 171.60 85.70 128.17 M ( 20 ml) 106.80 118.70 91.50 105.67 114.90 162.40 92.50 123.27 M 20ml + NPK 4g 89.50 114.00 75.20 92.90 110.30 152.30 83.80 115.47 M 20ml + NPK 6g 83.00 103.50 69.00 85.17 107.90 132.50 80.50 106.97 Mean 89.71 100.99 67.89 113.48 144.53 80.51 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.75 Fertilizer: 1.29 Interactions: 2.24 Media: 1.33 Fertilizer: 2.30 Interactions: 3.99

Table 7: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on dry weights of stems (g) of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 17.33 17.33 15.37 16.68 31.07 32.40 19.90 27.79 NPK (4 g ) 21.77 25.00 16.33 21.03 39.57 49.73 23.97 37.76 NPK (6 g ) 30.23 38.07 19.00 29.10 41.93 56.10 25.23 41.09 M ( 10 ml) 28.93 33.27 18.23 26.81 35.80 45.70 22.40 34.63 M 10ml + NPK 4g 34.43 35.53 20.87 30.28 40.43 52.63 26.00 39.69 M 10ml + NPK 6g 44.63 46.57 27.67 39.62 43.63 61.77 26.90 44.10 M ( 20 ml) 37.27 42.13 30.93 36.78 38.27 57.97 29.50 41.91 M 20ml + NPK 4g 30.47 40.23 24.13 31.61 36.50 53.80 26.37 38.89 M 20ml + NPK 6g 29.07 35.90 22.00 28.99 35.87 45.00 24.40 35.09 Mean 30.46 34.89 21.61 38.12 50.57 24.96 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.97 Fertilizer: 1.68 Interactions: 2.92 Media: 1.22 Fertilizer: 2.12 Interactions: 3.65

Chemical composition Data presented in Tables (8 to 10) that, the mixture of clay and sand soil significantly increased chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids concentrations (0.81 and 1.05 mg/g. F. W.), (0.30 and 0.39 mg/g.F.W.), (0.31 and 0.34 mg/g.F.W.) in the first and second seasons respectively, compared with other media. But, sandy media gave the lowest concentrations of plant pigments in two seasons. the obtained results are in agreement with those obtained by Badawi (1994) on Schefflera actinophylla, El-Sallami (1996) on Ficus benjamina L. plants, Watfa (2009) on Aleppo seedling found that the mixture of sand and clay was the most effective media in increasing the contents of chlorophyll a in leaves and Youssef (2011) indicated that using clay soil or mixture of clay and sand were increased chlorophyll a, b and Carotenoids concentration in leaves of Populus nigra plants.

500 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

Table 8: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on chlorophyll a (mg/g. F. W.) of leaves of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 0.45 0.61 0.42 0.49 0.60 0.82 0.55 0.66 NPK (4 g ) 0.51 0.66 0.48 0.55 0.81 0.98 0.63 0.81 NPK (6 g ) 0.62 0.85 0.60 0.69 0.99 1.07 0.79 0.95 M ( 10 ml) 0.56 0.77 0.43 0.59 0.72 0.96 0.66 0.78 M 10ml + NPK 4g 0.69 0.84 0.64 0.72 0.97 1.09 0.74 0.93 M 10ml + NPK 6g 0.74 0.90 0.68 0.77 1.04 1.14 0.91 1.03 M ( 20 ml) 0.71 0.82 0.55 0.69 0.95 1.04 0.72 0.90 M 20ml + NPK 4g 0.78 0.86 0.70 0.78 1.07 1.12 0.89 1.02 M 20ml + NPK 6g 0.85 0.96 0.72 0.84 1.10 1.27 0.93 1.10 Mean 0.66 0.81 0.58 0.92 1.05 0.76 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.06 Fertilizer: 0.10 Interactions: 0.17 Media: 0.04 Fertilizer: 0.07 Interactions: 0.13

Table 9: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on chlorophyll b (mg/g. F. W.) of leaves of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 0.14 0.20 0.12 0.15 0.28 0.33 0.18 0.26 NPK (4 g ) 0.16 0.24 0.18 0.19 0.28 0.38 0.20 0.29 NPK (6 g ) 0.21 0.27 0.19 0.22 0.32 0.40 0.26 0.33 M ( 10 ml) 0.19 0.26 0.14 0.20 0.27 0.34 0.22 0.28 M 10ml + NPK 4g 0.22 0.30 0.20 0.24 0.29 0.39 0.27 0.32 M 10ml + NPK 6g 0.25 0.34 0.22 0.27 0.31 0.42 0.34 0.36 M ( 20 ml) 0.20 0.32 0.17 0.23 0.30 0.37 0.24 0.30 M 20ml + NPK 4g 0.32 0.39 0.30 0.34 0.39 0.43 0.33 0.38 M 20ml + NPK 6g 0.28 0.34 0.26 0.29 0.43 0.47 0.39 0.43 Mean 0.22 0.30 0.20 0.32 0.39 0.27 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.02 Fertilizer: 0.03 Interactions: 0.05 Media: 0.01 Fertilizer: 0.02 Interactions: 0.04

Table 10: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on carotenoids concentration (mg/g. F. W.) of leaves of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 0.22 0.23 0.20 0.22 0.26 0.28 0.21 0.25 NPK (4 g ) 0.24 0.26 0.22 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.25 0.30 NPK (6 g ) 0.29 0.32 0.26 0.29 0.35 0.38 0.28 0.34 M ( 10 ml) 0.24 0.27 0.23 0.25 0.29 0.30 0.23 0.27 M 10ml + NPK 4g 0.28 0.32 0.25 0.28 0.33 0.32 0.27 0.31 M 10ml + NPK 6g 0.32 0.34 0.28 0.31 0.36 0.37 0.30 0.34 M ( 20 ml) 0.26 0.29 0.24 0.26 0.32 0.33 0.27 0.31 M 20ml + NPK 4g 0.31 0.34 0.25 0.30 0.34 0.35 0.29 0.33 M 20ml + NPK 6g 0.36 0.39 0.29 0.35 0.38 0.43 0.32 0.38 Mean 0.28 0.31 0.25 0.33 0.34 0.27 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.02 Fertilizer: 0.03 Interactions: 0.06 Media: 0.02 Fertilizer: 0.03 Interactions: 0.05

501 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

All fertilization treatments increased plant pigments concentration in leaves compared with control. The highest concentrations of chlorophyll a (0.84 and 1.10 mg/g. F. W. in both seasons, respectively), chlorophyll b (0.43 mg/g.F.W. in the second season) and carotenoids (0.35 and 0.38 mg/g.F.W. in both seasons, respectively) were obtained from plants fertilized by microbien at 20 ml plus NPK at 6gm/ plant. While using microbien at 20 ml and NPK at 4gm/plant produced the highest chlorophyll (b) concentration (0.34 mg/g.F.W.) in the first season compared with other treatments. The unfertilized plants were resulted the lowest values in both seasons. These results are in harmony with those obtained by Sarhan et al. (2002) on Taxodium distichum mentioned that chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids content increased with N P K fertilizer. Gad (2003) on Ficus benjamina revealed that the greatest values of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids were obtained with high N P K rates (16:8:4 g NPK /pot). Mazher et al. (2006) on Sesbania aegyptiaca seedlings indicted that biofertilizer (Microbien) Treatment gave the highest content chlorophyll (a) and (b). Regarding the interaction between growing media and fertilization the results showed that, the plants grown in mixing soil and fertilized with 20ml microbien and 6gm NPK produced the highest concentrations of chlorophyll a (0.96 and 1.27mg/g.F.W. in both seasons, respectively), chlorophyll b (0.47 mg/g.F.W in the second season) and carotenoids (0.39 and 0.43 mg/g.F.W. in both seasons, respectively). While, the highest chlorophyll b concentration 0.39 mg/g.F.W. in the first season was obtained from plants grown in mixture soil and treated with microbien at 20ml and 4gm/ plant of NPK compared with other treatments. Data in Tables (11 to 13) show the effect of soil type on total carbohydrate content in leaves, stem and root of Swietenia Mahagoni. Plants grown in mixture of clay and sand soil significantly increased total carbohydrates percentage in the leaves (31.13 and 32.12%), stems (38.45 and 42.23%) and roots (34.73 and 39.05%) in both seasons, respectively, compared to clay or sandy soil. These results are in conformity with those obtained Nabih and El-Khateeb (1991) on Philodonderon erubescens plants, El-Sallami (1996) on Ficus benjamina L. revealed that mixture of clay and sand media was most effective in stimulating carbohydrate synthesis and El-Mahrouk et al. (2009) on Cestrum aurantiacum, showed that, the highest value of total carbohydrates content was obtained with sandy + clay (1:1 v/v) media. Concerning, the effect of different fertilizers applications on the percentage of the total carbohydrates of Swietenia Mahagoni plants. The results show that, microbien at 10ml and 6gm of NPK application significantly increased carbohydrate content in the leaves (32.89 and 34.58% in the first and second seasons, respectively) and roots (36.90% in the first season) compared with other treatments. While, microbien at 20ml plus 6g NPK / plant treatment significantly increased the carbohydrates percentage in stem (40.12 and 46.07% in both seasons, respectively) and roots in the second season (43.04%) compared with other treatments. The present findings are in harmony with those obtained by Hassan (1994) on Jasminum sambac plants; found that total carbohydrates contents increased by different levels of NPK fertilizer. Ewais (2000) on Brunfelsia calycina, Mazher et al. (2006) on Sesbania aegyptiaca and Hashish (2011) on Paulownia kawakamii seedlings mentioned that application biofertilizer application increased carbohydrates in leaves, stems and roots. Concerning, the interaction between growing media and fertilization at different rates the data showed that, mixture of clay + sand soil with 10ml of microbien plus 6g NPK treatment recorded the highest total carbohydrates percentage in the leaves (36.71 and 37.18% in the first and second seasons, respectively)and roots (41.87% in the first season). Whereas, clay and sand soil with 20 ml of microbien plus 6g NPK treatment significantly increased the carbohydrates percentage in the stems (44.78 and 49.81% in both seasons, respectively) and roots in the second season (47.58%) compared with all other treatments.

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Table 11: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on Carbohydrate % of leaves of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 23.42 27.01 18.98 23.14 25.55 28.09 20.00 24.55 NPK (4 g ) 25.65 28.84 19.14 24.54 28.76 30.63 21.71 27.03 NPK (6 g ) 31.45 34.08 21.50 29.01 30.75 32.22 24.04 29.00 M ( 10 ml) 26.55 28.91 19.07 24.84 26.95 29.87 21.36 26.06 M 10ml + NPK 4g 30.81 31.60 20.63 27.68 29.07 31.35 26.12 28.85 M 10ml + NPK 6g 34.10 36.71 27.87 32.89 34.34 37.18 32.21 34.58 M ( 20 ml) 27.10 29.23 21.32 25.88 31.13 34.40 28.24 31.26 M 20ml + NPK 4g 32.32 30.36 24.97 29.22 31.78 34.53 25.20 30.50 M 20ml + NPK 6g 29.20 33.44 21.50 28.05 28.33 30.81 22.32 27.15 Mean 28.96 31.13 21.66 29.63 32.12 24.58 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 1.38 Fertilizer: 2.39 Interactions: 4.14 Media: 0.93 Fertilizer: 1.61 Interactions: 2.79

Table 12: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on Carbohydrate % of stems of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 24.31 26.84 21.13 24.09 29.21 33.89 27.18 30.09 NPK (4 g ) 31.60 36.69 30.10 32.80 36.73 40.43 35.39 37.52 NPK (6 g ) 35.25 39.98 33.28 36.17 38.05 43.40 39.75 40.40 M ( 10 ml) 27.45 35.25 25.84 29.51 31.60 35.37 30.93 32.63 M 10ml + NPK 4g 33.03 40.15 32.45 35.21 40.34 42.33 38.37 40.35 M 10ml + NPK 6g 37.04 38.67 34.88 36.86 42.39 45.15 40.27 42.60 M ( 20 ml) 32.10 40.28 27.18 33.19 34.40 41.86 33.10 36.45 M 20ml + NPK 4g 36.69 43.42 33.12 37.74 43.51 47.80 41.20 44.17 M 20ml + NPK 6g 39.58 44.78 36.01 40.12 44.78 49.81 43.62 46.07 Mean 33.01 38.45 30.44 37.89 42.23 36.65 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 0.36 Fertilizer: 0.62 Interactions: 1.08 Media: 0.46 Fertilizer: 0.79 Interactions: 1.38

Table 13: Effect of microbien and NPK fertilizers on Carbohydrate % of roots of Swietenia mahagoni (L.)Jacq. plants under different growing media [clay , clay: sand (1:1v/v) and sand] during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Media Media Fertilizer Clay C+S Sand Mean Clay C+S Sand Mean First Season Second Season Control 23.28 26.28 22.17 23.91 25.15 28.10 23.50 25.58 NPK (4 g ) 30.50 33.08 28.75 30.78 33.18 36.64 32.19 34.00 NPK (6 g ) 35.80 37.13 31.66 34.86 36.41 38.16 34.61 36.39 M ( 10 ml) 25.40 31.27 23.74 26.80 30.22 34.53 26.67 30.47 M 10ml + NPK 4g 31.55 34.04 29.95 31.85 34.70 39.60 33.42 35.91 M 10ml + NPK 6g 34.70 41.87 34.12 36.90 38.40 42.20 34.30 38.30 M ( 20 ml) 30.42 35.33 25.30 30.35 35.13 40.26 30.10 35.16 M 20ml + NPK 4g 38.16 36.15 30.40 34.90 41.30 44.39 35.24 40.31 M 20ml + NPK 6g 33.90 37.41 33.06 34.79 42.55 47.58 39.00 43.04 Mean 31.52 34.73 28.79 35.23 39.05 32.11 M= Microbien LSD value at 0.05: Media: 1.07 Fertilizer: 1.86 Interactions: 3.22 Media: 0.42 Fertilizer: 0.73 Interactions: 1.26

503 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 8(2): 495-505, 2019 ISSN: 2077-4605

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