The Interaction of Organic Fertilizer and Pitting on Nutrient Content, Phenolic Compounds, and Root and Shoot Lengths in Vetiver Grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.)

Abstract

The shortage of elements in the soil and water available to the plant are some of the most common environmental stresses in Iran which faces drought every year. The purpose of this study was to study the effect of pitting and organic fertilizers on the growth and physiological characteristics of vetiver grass in drought stress conditions. After cultivating the seedlings in the pots in the greenhouse and their growth for three months, the seedlings were transformed to the field and the treatments were applied to them for six months. This experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design in the field. The treatments applied to the seedlings were cultivation with pitting and without pitting, three levels of fertilizer (0, 150, and 300 kg fertilizer per hectare), and two levels of irrigation determined based on field capacity (FC) (FC and 1/4FC). After harvest, the plants were transferred to the laboratory for measurements. The results showed that by applying pitting and fertilizers, shoot height changed from 9.8 cm to 16.68 cm, root length from 18.81 cm to 25.55 cm, potassium (K) from 25.95 mg/kg to 34.30 mg/kg, calcium (Ca) from 1.20 mg/kg in pitting treatment to 2.27 mg/kg in non-pitting treatment, phenol from 0.22 mg/g DW to 0.83 mg/g DW and phosphorus (P) from 2.99 mg/kg to 11.95 mg/kg. The results indicated the interactive effects of organic fertilizer and pitting due to improvement in soil physicochemical conditions and increase in growth and nutrient uptake of vetiver grass.