Effects of soil and foliar applications of iron and zinc on flowering and essential oil of chamomile at greenhouse conditions | Učinki talnega in foliarnega dodajanja železa in cinka na cvetenje in vsebnost eteričnih olj prave kamilice (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert), gojene v rastlinjaku

English. In order to study the effects of soil and foliar applications of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) on flowering, flower yield and essential oil production of German chamomile a pot experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Iran in 2012. The experiment was arranged as completely randomized design with 12 treatments and three replications. Treatments were as follow: T1: control – without Fe or Zn fertilizers, T2: 30 mg FeSO4.7H2O kg-1 dry soil, T3: 22 mg ZnSO4.7H2O kg-1 dry soil, T4: 30 mg FeSO4.7H2O + 22 mg ZnSO4.7H2O kg-1 dry soil, T5: foliar spraying of FeSO4.7H2O (3.5 g L-1), T6: foliar spraying of FeSO4.7H2O (7.0 g L-1), T7: foliar spraying of ZnSO4.7H2O (2.5 g L-1), T8: foliar spraying of ZnSO4.7H2O (5.0 g L-1), T9: T5+T7, T10: T5+T8, T11: T6+T7, T12: T6+T8. The foliar spraying was done two times during the growing period. The results revealed that the flower number, flower yield, essential oil content and essential oil yield were significantly increased by soil and foliar applications of Fe + Zn, compared with the control (untreated). The highest flower number (477 plant-1), flower yield (11.6 g pot-1), essential oil content (0.88 %) and essential oil yield (119 mg pot-1) were recorded for the soil application of Fe + Zn (T4) by 58, 68, 21.4 and 105 % increment compared to the control, respectively. Foliar application of Fe + Zn (T12) was placed at the next rank; however this treatment had no significant difference with the soil application of Fe + Zn (T4). Other treatments did not show significant differences with the control. Generally, the results showed that soil or foliar application of Fe + Zn can be effective on increase or improve of quantity and quality of chamomile yield. Moreover, use of foliar application as a low cost method especially in areas with alkaline or calcareous soils can be recommended.

Slovenian. Lončni poskus gojenja prave kamilice (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert) je bil izveden v rastlinjaku z namenom ugotavljanja talnega in foliarnega dodajanja železa (Fe) in cinka (Zn) na njeno cvetenje, pridelek cvetov in produkcijo eteričnih olj  na  Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Iran, leta 2012. Poskus je bil izveden kot popoln naključni poskus z 12obravnavanji in tremi ponovitvami. Obravnavanja so bila: T1: kontrola – brez gnojenja s Fe ali Zn, T2: 30 mg FeSO4.7H2O kg-1 suhih tal, T3: 22 mg ZnSO4.7H2O kg-1 suhih tal, T4: 30 mg FeSO4.7H2O + 22 mg ZnSO4.7H2O kg-1 suhih tal, T5: škropljenje listov z FeSO4.7H2O (3.5 g L-1), T6: škropljenje listov z FeSO4.7H2O (7.0 g L-1), T7: škropljenje listov s ZnSO4.7H2O (2.5 g L-1), T8: škroplenje listov z ZnSO4.7H2O (5.0 g L-1), T9: T5+T7, T10: T5+T8, T11: T6+T7, T12: T6+T8. Škropljenje listov je bilo opravljeno dvakrat v rastni dobi. Rezultati so pokazali, da je talno in foliarno gnojenje z Fe + Zn značilno povečalo število cvetov, pridelek cvetov, vsebnost in pridelek eteričnih olj v primerjavi s kontrolo. Največje število cvetov (477 na rastlino), največji pridelek cvetov (11.6 g na lonec), največja vsebnost eteričnih olj (0.88 %) in največji pridelek eteričnih olj (119 mg na lonec) so bili izmerjeni pri talnem dodajanju Fe + Zn (T4), povečanje je bilo za 58, 68, 21.4 in 105 % glede na kontrolno obravnavanje. Učinek foliarnega dodajanja Fe + Zn (T12) je bil takoj za talnim dodajanjem Fe + Zn (T4), vendar se od njega ni značilno razlikoval. Druga obravnavanja niso dala značilnih odstopanj od kontrole. V splošnem so rezultati pokazali, da lahko tako talno kot foliarno dodajanje Fe + Zn učinkovito poveča ali izboljša količino in kvaliteto pridelka prave kamilice. Uporabo foliarnega dodajanja bi kot poceni način gnojenja še posebej priporočali na območjih , kjer so tla bazična ali apnenčasta.