RESPONSE OF THE SLOW-GROWING MISTLETOE FIG (FICUS DELTOIDEA JACK.) PLANT TO FERTILIZATION TREATMENTS AND GROWTH ACTIVATOR 1. THE LIQUID COMMERCIAL PRODUCT OF NITROPHENOLATES

Two pot experiments were conducted under plastic house (temperature, R.H. and light intensity inside the plastic house during the course of study were ranged between: 24.5-38.7°C, 46.6- 81.5% and 500-600 lux, respectively) at the nursery of Hort. Res. Int., ARC, Giza, Egypt during 2012 and 2013 seasons to study the effect of a liquid commercial product which contains 1g/l sodium 5- nitroguaiacolate + 2g/l sodium ortho-nitrophenolate + 3g/l sodium para-nitrophenolate when added individually or in combination, monthly for 5 repeats during the growing season, either as a foliar spray or as a soil drench at the rates of 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 cm3/l on growth performance and chemical composition of the slow-growing Ficus deltoidea Jack. foliage pot-plant. The results of the experiments showed that all vegetative and root growth parameters were improved in response to the various treatments used in this work with the different significance levels relative to an untreated control in both seasons. Spraying the foliage with the low and medium levels gave, to some extent better results than the high level, while that was true for soil drench method when nitrophenolates were drenched at the low rate. Increasing level of nitrophenolates to 1.0 cm3/l did not cause any additional improvement in growth, whereas combining between the two application methods clearly enhanced growth. So, the supremacy was for the combination of foliar spray and soil drench at 1.0 cm3/l for each, as this combination gave the highest means in most cases of the two seasons. A similar trend was also attained concerning the leaf content of chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids , N, P, K, Fe, Zn and Mn, as these constituents were higher in the leaves of treated plants by the two methods of application at the high level for both (1.0 cm3/l) than in the leaves of plants treated with other treatments. Hence, it is recommended to apply the liquid commercial product of nitrophenolates to mistletoe fig plant, monthly for 5 times during the growing season, as a foliar spray and soil drench at the rate of 1.0 cm3/l for each to attain better growth performance and chemical composition.