Effect of Some Bio-Stimulators on Vegetative Growth, Chlorophyll and Leaf Mineral Concentration of Apricot Cv. Shekarpareh

Nutrition of fruit trees during the growing season plays an important role in growth, fruitfulness and fruit quality. Given the increasing application of bio-stimulators as one of the most important approaches towards sustainable agriculture, some bio-stimulators were applied to elucidate their effects on vegetative characteristics and leaf mineral content of apricot trees cv. “Shekarpareh” in the spring of 2015 in Abarkuh, Yazd, Iran. The experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete blocks design with four replications on 8-years-old trees. Seven treatments of foliar applications, included control (spraying with water), Humic acid (0.1 or 0.2% v/v); Humiforte™ (0.05 or 0.1% v/v) and Aminol forte (0.3 or 0.6% v/v) that were applied twice including two weeks after full bloom and a month after the first spray. The results showed that bio-stimulators significantly affected current season’s growth (branches length and diameter), leaves macro and micronutrients contents, except for potassium (P=0.003), while there was no significant effect on chlorophyll content. The highest branch length (115 cm) and the lowest branch diameter (9.71 cm) were obtained by the application of Aminol forte 0.3% v/v. The highest leaves content of N (2.46%) and P (0.14%) were achieved by applying Humiforte 0.1%, while the highest content of leaves micronutrients were observed following the application of Humic acid at 0.2% v/v. It appears that applying Aminol forte 0.3% and Humic acid 0.2% at two weeks after full bloom and one month following the first application could promote vegetative growth and mineral content of apricot trees.