Two field trials were carried out in the Fayoum Faculty of
Agriculture Experimental Farms at Dar El-Ramad (clay alluvial soil)
and Demo (loamy sand soil) in the early summer seasons of the years
2002 and 2003. The objective of this work was to evaluate the
influence of some foliar compound fertilizers prepared by the authors
in comparison with two commercial foliar fertilizers on two tomato
cultivars (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) namely, Wadistar and
Nema.1400. Yield and fruit content of total sugars, total acidity, total
dissolved solids (TSS), and lycopene were estimated.
It was generally observed that the compound fertilizers prepared
by the authors had better effect on tomato yield/feddan and most of the
studied fruit quality characteristics in comparison with those of either
the control (recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture) or the two
tested commercial fertilizers.
Results of the present investigation also indicated that the
concentrations of Fe,Mn and Zn in plant leaves were considerably
greater in Wadistar cv. than those of Nema.1400 cv. plants. This
emphasized the differential varietal response of tomato genotypes to
micronutrients cations which should be kept in consideration when
planning the actual crop requirements of such nutrients. On the other
hand, Nema 1400 cv. fruits contained greater concentrations of total
sugars, Lycopene and total soluble solids, but less contents of total
acidity than Wadistar cv. fruits. Statistical analysis of data showed
highly significant positive correlation coefficient between Lycopene
content and each of total sugars and TSS concentrations in tomato
fruits.
Foliar application with the prepared compound"E" (consisted of
N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, citric acid, ascorbic acid and the amino acids
cystene, lysine and mithionine, resulted in the greatest total yield per
feddan and had the most desirable fruit quality characters followed by
"D" which contained N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, citric and ascorbic acids
without amino acids.
According to the results of this investigation it could be generally
concluded that the compound"E" prepared by the authors was the most
effective among the studied foliar spray fertilizers., however further
studies should be conducted on large experimental fields for final
recommendation in this respect.