EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF NITROGEN AND ZINC ON THE GROWTH OF PECAN NUT SEEDLINGS

An experiment "Effect of different concentrations of nitrogen and zinc on the growth of pecan nut seedlings" was carried out at Agricultural Research Institute, Tarnab, Peshawar during 2001. Four different concentrations of nitrogen (0, 1.25, 2.5, and 5%) and zinc (0, 0.12, 0.25 and 0.5%) were used as foliar application. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors. The foliar sprays of nitrogen (N) and zinc (Zn) were done on 1 st June and 1 st , July, 2001 on three months old pecan nut seedlings. Significantly maximum seedling height (48.04 cm), stem diameter (0.79 cm), number of leaves plant -1 (21.6), leaf area (99.19 cm 2 ) root diameter (0.83 cm), root weight (37.23 g) roots/seedling (76.08) and biomass weight (56.35g) were recorded when seedlings were sprayed with 5% N and minimum in control. Root length was maximum (45.78 cm) with 2.5% foliar application of nitrogen compared to the minimum of 41.34 cm in control (no spray). The seedlings sprayed with 0.25% zinc gave maximum seedling height (46.14 cm), number of leaves plant -1 (19.25), leaf area, root length (44.04 cm), root diameter (0.76 cm), root weight (35.40 g) and biomass weight (53.25 g) while all parameters were low in values without application of zinc. Stem diameter and number of roots were significantly more (0.76 cm, 74.95) with 0.5% foliar spray of zinc. In interaction foliar application of 5% nitrogen and 0.25% zinc significantly increased seedling height (52.56 cm), number of leaves (25.0), leaf area (119.20 cm²), root diameter (0.91 cm), and number of roots (76.76) while non significant difference was found in root length, root weight and biomass weight in various interactions. The overall performance of pecan nut seedlings was best with foliar application of 5% nitrogen and 0.25% zinc under the agro climatic conditions of Tarnab, Peshawar.