Abstract
The study was carried out during the 2024–2025 fall growing season inside a plastic greenhouse at the Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A factorial experiment was implemented using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, resulting in a total of 54 treatment combinations. The treatments included two cabbage varieties (‘Tropicana’ and ‘Globe Master’), three application rates of Bio Health (0 g, 15 g, and 20 g per square meter), and three concentrations of Hum-Zinc foliar spray (0 g, 1.5 g, and 3 g per liter). The main aim of the research was to assess how Bio Health soil amendments and Hum-Zinc foliar applications influence the growth, yield, and overall performance of cabbage plants.
The results showed that the ‘Globe Master’ cultivar was significantly superior to the ‘Tropicana’ cultivar in terms of the number of rolled leaves, average head weight, total yield, nitrogen percentage, and potassium percentage. In contrast, the ‘Tropicana’ cultivar showed superiority in stem length and phosphorus percentage. The application of Bio Health significantly affected all measured parameters, demonstrating its role in enhancing plant performance. Similarly, foliar application of Hum-Zinc significantly influenced all growth and yield traits, with the exception of stem length.
The best results for most vegetative growth characteristics, total yield, and yield components were obtained with the application of Bio Health at 20 g/m² and foliar spraying of Hum-Zinc at 3 g/ L-1. These findings indicate that the integrated use of Bio Health and Hum-Zinc can effectively improve cabbage growth, yield, and nutrient content under protected cultivation conditions. This study highlights the potential of combining organic amendments with micronutrient foliar sprays to achieve sustainable and productive cabbage cultivation.
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College of Agriculture-University of Kirkuk. ISO 690
Bashan, Y., et al. (2014). Advances in plant growth-promoting bacterial inoculant technology. Plant and Soil, 378, 1–33.