Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Haider Raad Flaih Al-Zaidi ¹
• Akeel Nagime Abood AL-Mohammedi ²

¹ Department of Field Crops, College of Agriculture, Tikrit University, Iraq.

² Field Crops Department, College of Agriculture, Tikrit University, Iraq

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in 2024 at a private farm in Hor Rijab, Baghdad Governorate, to evaluate the effects of compound fertilizer and zeolite on the growth, yield, and active components of four roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) genotypes: Hit Black, Sudan 3, Areb, and Hit Red. Treatments included control, zeolite at 100 kg ha⁻¹, NPK (20:20:20) at 250 kg ha⁻¹, and their combination. The experiment followed a factorial RCBD with three replications (48 units).No significant differences among genotypes were found in days to 50% flowering or maturity, while treatment effects were significant. Hit Black showed superior performance in most traits, recording the highest leaf area index (6.30), chlorophyll a (3.75 mg g⁻¹), total chlorophyll a+b (9.12 mg g⁻¹), phosphorus (0.025%), potassium (0.854%), dry capsule weight (2.29 g plant⁻¹), and calyx yield (683.48 kg ha⁻¹). Hit Red had the highest chlorophyll b (3.75 mg g⁻¹) and nitrogen (0.24%), while Areb had the most seeds per capsule (22.53). The combined NPK + zeolite treatment significantly improved all traits, with values of 162.83 days to flowering, 182.33 days to maturity, leaf area index (6.57), chlorophyll a (6.44 mg g⁻¹), b (4.64 mg g⁻¹), total (10.10 mg g⁻¹), nitrogen (0.25%), phosphorus (0.029%), potassium (0.884%), dry capsule weight (2.61 g plant⁻¹), seeds per capsule (24.18), and calyx yield (799.61 kg ha⁻¹). The Hit Black genotype with this treatment gave the highest values overall. Sudan 3 recorded the highest nitrogen (0.31%) and seed number (24.46), not significantly different from Hit Black and Areb.
 

Highlights

Keywords

• Roselle
• Genotypes
• Growth traits
• NPK fertilizer
• Zeolite