Effect of Spraying With Calcium and Potassium Silicate on Some Growth Characteristics and Yield of Pomegranate Trees of the cv. (Wonderful)

Hussein, Sanyar Khalid; Kader, Jehad Shareef

doi:10.58928/ku26.17221

	Effect of Spraying With Calcium and Potassium Silicate on Some Growth Characteristics and Yield of Pomegranate Trees of the cv. (Wonderful)
Kirkuk University Journal for Agricultural Sciences (KUJAS)
Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2026, Pages 185-194 PDF (442.34 K)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.58928/ku26.17221
Authors
Sanyar Khalid Hussein^* ¹; Jehad Shareef Kader²
¹Department of Horticulture, University of Salahaddin, College of Agricultural Engineering Science,Hawler, Iraq
²Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design, College of Agricultural Engineering Science, University of Salahaddin Erbil, Iraq
Abstract
The experiment was conducted during the 2024 growing season on five-year-old, healthy pomegranate trees (Punica granatum L.) in a local orchard in Qaladiza, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan, Iraq, to examine the effect of foliar spray with three levels of calcium (0, 2, 4 ml.l⁻¹) and three levels of potassium silicate (0, 1.5, 3 ml.l⁻¹), along with their interactions, on the growth and yield of pomegranate trees. All selected trees were sprayed three times, the first on 3/7/2024 after fruit set at 6 P.M., the second on 18/7/2024, and the third on 2/8/2024, with 15 days between each application. The study was designed as a factorial experiment in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Results showed that the most significant increases occurred with the highest treatment levels and the interaction of calcium and potassium silicate, especially at high concentrations (4 ml.l⁻¹ calcium and 3 ml·l⁻¹ potassium silicate). Based on the earlier findings, this study finds that the majority of the vegetative, yield, and chemical properties of pomegranates (Wonderful cv) were considerably impacted by the application of calcium and potassium silicate as foliar treatments, as well as their interaction, leading to increases in chemical components, yield, and vegetative growth. These enhancements led to notable improvements in most measured parameters, including leaf nitrogen content (2.083%), calcium (0.889%), and potassium (0.990%), leaf area (7.378 cm2), leaf chlorophyll content (47.257 SPAD), fruit cracking (40.76%), Total Soluble Solid (17.100%), anthocyanin (5.706%), and peel content of nitrogen (2.030%), peel content of calcium (10.649%), and peel content of potassium (1.387%).
Keywords
Pomegranate; Calcium; Potassium silicate; Foliar spray; Yield

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