MSc

The investigation entitled “ Calcium, magnesium and boron nutrition for grow bag cultivation of cabbage” was carried out at College of Agriculture, Vellayani during the period from October to December 2017 with the objective to study the effect of soil and foliar application of calcium, magnesium and boron on growth, yield and quality of cabbage cultivated in grow bags.
The experiment was laid out in completely randomised design with nine treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of two levels of calcium (C1 - CaCO3 as per lime requirement as basal, C2 – CaCl2.2H2O @ 1% foliar spray on 15th and 45 th DAP) , two levels of magnesium (M1 –MgSO4.7H2O @ 20 g plant-1 in two equal splits on 15th and 30th DAP, M2 – MgSO4.7H2O @ 1 % foliar spray on 15 th and 45 th DAP) and two levels of boron (B 1 – Na2B4O7. 10 H2O @ 4 g plant-1 in two equal splits on 15 th and 30 th DAP, B2 – Na2B4O7.10 H2O @ 0.5 % foliar spray on 15 th and 45th DAP ). The treatment combinations were T1- control, T2- C1+ M1+ B1, T3 - C1 + M1+ B2, T4 - C1+ M2+ B1, T5- C1+ M2+ B2 , T6 - C2+ M1+ B1, T7 - C2 + M1+ B2 , T8- C2+ M2+ B1 and T9 - C2+ M2+ B2.
The study revealed that the treatment (T7) which received calcium and boron as foliar and magnesium as soil application recorded the maximum plant height (37.12 cm), number of leaves per plant (32.66), plant spread (59.21 cm), and leaf area (699.12 cm2) . The number of days to head formation (50.66 DAT) and head maturity (85.33 DAT) were the lowest in T7 which was on par with T9 .
The results on available nutrient status of soil revealed that available nitrogen was the highest in T6 (397.22 kg ha -1). The treatments did not significantly influence the available P and K content of soil. With regard to the available calcium in soil the treatment T5 (C1+ M2+ B2) registered the highest value of 452 mg kg-1 which was on par with T2 and T7.The highest available Mg content of 215 mg kg-1 was recorded in T7 (C2 + M1+ B2) which was on par with T5 and T3. Available S was the highest in T7 (11.69 mg kg-1) which was on par
with T2, T3 and T6. The highest available boron content of 1.32 mg kg-1 was observed in T6 .
The content of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B and Fe in cabbage head and leaf were significantly influenced by different treatments. The treatment T7 recorded the highest N content in leaves (2.28 %) and head (2.21 %). With regard to P and K content T5 recorded the highest value. The highest Ca content of 2.42 % in leaves and 0.99 % in cabbage head were observed in T7. The treatment T5 recorded significantly higher magnesium and boron content in leaves and cabbage head. The highest sulphur content in leaves (0.43%) and head (0.34 %) were obtained in T4. However the effect of treatments on Mn, Zn and Cu content in plant were found to be non significant.
With regard to nutrient uptake T7 showed the highest total uptake of N, Ca , Fe and Mn while T5 recorded the highest uptake of P, K, Mg and B . The highest sulphur uptake was observed in T4 .
The chlorophyll content in leaf at heading stage was the highest in T9 (5.39 mg g -1) which was on par with T5 (5.29 mg g -1).
The treatments significantly influenced the yield and quality parameters of cabbage. T7 recorded the highest fresh weight of plant (1.833 kg) and head yield ( 1.216 kg) which was on par with T9 and T3. The highest B: C ratio (1.82) was registered by the same treatment and was found to be significantly superior. This treatment effect has registered the highest nutrient use efficiency for Ca (42.55) and B (85.66) and for Mg, T9 recorded the highest value (27.81). With regard to the quality parameters, the highest protein content of 1.93 % and vitamin C content of 64.55 mg -1 100 g was recorded in T 7 which was significantly superior to all other treatments. However the treatments did not influence the crude fibre and oxalate content.
From the results , it can be concluded that the treatment T7 (foliar application of calcium chloride @ 1% and borax @ 0.5 % on 15th and 45 th DAP and soil application of MgSO4.7H2O @ 20 g plant-1 in two equal splits on 15 th and 30 th DAP) significantly increased plant growth, yield, nutrient content, nutrient uptake and quality of cabbage.