Quantitative traits of white cabbage cultivars in association with two biofertilisers

Abstract

Cabbage is one of the most important vegetables from the Brassicaceae family to which biofertilisers are increasingly applied following the current trend in cabbage organic farming. The main goal of our study was to examine whether solely applicated biofertilisers enhance head weight and other morphological parameters in cabbage. Experiment with three Bejo Zaden cultivars ('Farao' F 1 , 'Tiara' F 1 , and 'Excalibur' F 1 ) were conducted under the open field conditions from April to June 2019. Two different microbiological fertilisers, Organic balance and FitoHelp, were applied foliar, six times during the vegetation period, with a battery sprayer. After harvest, several parameters were estimated: head weight, width and height, number of leaves, internal core height and width. The results showed the highest value of head weight (1264.89 g), head width (15.06 cm), head height (15.57 cm), number of leaves (22.56), internal core height (8.01 cm) and internal core width (3.51 cm) in cultivar 'Excalibur' F1 compared to other two cultivars for fresh market. Application of both fertilisers led to increased levels of all tested parameters compared to the control. Furthermore, fertiliser Organic balance showed the highest impact on all tested parameters, resulting in an increasing value of head weight by 78.6%. This study revealed that mixed culture fertiliser showed a greater impact in terms of head weight, number of leaves, and internal core width compared to fertiliser containing a single strain of bacteria. Accordingly, with an exception in head and internal core height, all examined factors showed a statistically significant impact on tested parameters, including their interaction.