The Effect of Plastic Soil Cover, Dekap and Estimplex Foliar Application on Growth and Some Physio-chemical Characteristics of Ocimum basilicum L.

Introduction: Ocimum basilicum L. is an herbaceous annual plant from Lamiaceace family. Ocimum basilicum is more valued for its essential oil components, vitamins and elemental content. Nowadays, using soil covers is a major trend in modern agricultural systems mainly due to their water saving potential, prevention of soil erosion, soil temperature equilibrium, nutrients availability, soil structure improvement, positive effect on plant quality attributes, weed control and yield improvement. Organic fertilizers, regulate pH, adjust soil CEC and improve the micro-organisms activity. Dekap® and Estimplex® improves the plant nutrition and the application of these organic sources would be so promising in order to meet the sustainable agricultural system needs mainly to cut the overuse of chemical fertilizers. High pH and calcareous soils greatly impact the quality and yield of plants dominantly due to nutritional imbalances in the most regions of the country. Therefore, the foliar application of nutrients would be an efficient way to overcome the problem. Moreover, water deficiency is another constraint encourages the using bed-covers to combat the water scarcity in many parts of the country.Materials and Methods: In order to study the effects of soil cover (control, black and white) and different levels of Dekap® [Dekap fertilizer is containing 33% P (P2O5) and 42%K (K2O)] and Estemplex (see algae extract) (0, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mlL-1) on growth and some physiochemical characteristics of Ocimum basilicum L. an experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized block design with three replications at Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Iran.Results and Discussion: The results showed that there were interaction effects of soil cover and foliar applications on phenolics content. The highest data for phenolics content was recorded with black soil cover × 4.5 mlL-1Dekap (105 mgg-1 DWt), black soil cover × 1.5 and 3 mlL-1 (98 mgg-1 DWt) Estemplx. The results showed that the highest data for plant dry weight (51 g) were obtained from black soil-cover and the highest plant height and axillary shoots number were recorded in both plastic soil cover. Foliar application of Dekap and Estemplex increased plant height and axillary shoots number. The highest data for N and Mg contents were obtained from black soil-cover and for K and Zn were obtained from black and white soil cover. The foliar application of Dekap and Estemplex increased P and K contents in plant. 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mlL-1 Estemplex increased N, K and Mg contents in Ocimum basilicum. The results showed that the highest data for chlorophyll a, flavonoid, total soluble solids and protein content were obtained from black soil-cover. IC50 and superoxide dismutase content of plant influenced by black and white soil cover. Foliar application of Dekap and Estemplex increased flavonoid contents in plant. Foliar applications with three concentrations of Estemplex increased chlorophyll a, IC50 and protein content in plant. 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mlL-1Estemplex increased superoxide dismutase, total soluble solids content (2.1 0 brix) and Zn content (28.9 and 30.3 mgKg-1).Conclusion: Adequate and balanced nutrition of plants result in environmental protection mainly by the reduced application of chemical fertilizers, soil erosion prevention, and increased input efficiency. Foliar application is an environmental friendly method to reduce the production changes. The overall results revealed the positive effects of black mulch and Estemplex fertilizer on nearly all the desired traits. It seem that Estemplex fertilizer effects on the growth indices was greater than Dekap fertilizer. Seemingly, with the more detailed studies, this fertilizer has the potential to be employed with the extension section.