Effect of Foliar Application Extract Seaweed and Citric Acid on the Vegetative Growth Characteristics of Young Fig (Ficus carica L.) Trees

Providing vigorously growing trees with well-developed root and shoot systems at the early stages in the orchard is essential for the widespread cultivation of fruit trees in general and figs in particular, as poor nutrition and slow growth naturally delay the entry of trees into the fruiting stage.

Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of spraying with seaweed extract (Kelpak) at 0, 2, 4 and 6 mL^-1 and citric acid at 0, 500, 1000 mg L^-1 on some vegetative growth traits of young fig trees of the local CV. Khalou Baziani. A factorial experiment was applied using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates.

Spraying with Kelpak at 6 ml L^-1 significantly increased the studied vegetative traits (increase in main stem diameter, branch length and diameter, leaf area and relative chlorophyll content), which were recorded as (2.550 mm, 65.833 cm, 1.421 mm, 131.156 cm², 43.104 CCI), while the 4 ml L^-1 concentration was superior in leaf dry matter percentage at 19.977%. Citric acid at 1000 mg L^-1 was superior in increasing branch length and diameter, leaf area, relative chlorophyll content and leaf dry matter percentage, which reached (59.584 cm, 21.30 mm, 114.60 cm², 42.215 CCI, 19.019%). A significant effect was observed due to the interaction between Kelpak and citric acid, where the treatment of 6 ml L^-1 Kelpak combined with 1000 mg L^-1 citric acid was significantly superior to the control in most studied traits.