THE USE OF HUMIC ACID AND EM IN REPLACEMENT OF NPK CHEMICAL FERTILIZATION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF GARDENIA JASMINOIDES POT PLANTS

A pot experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt during the two successive seasons 2014 and 2015 to explore the possibility of using humic acid (H) and/or effective microorganisms (EM) instead of NPK chemical fertilization for producing Gardenia jasminoides pot plants. Obtained results indicated that NPK fertilization treatment, as well as, humic acid and/or EM treatments caused great and considerable enhancement in different vegetative growth characters, flowering parameters and chemical constituents in comparison with control treatment. Hence, both NPK and other stimulant treatments (H and/or EM) gave nearly similar values for growth and flowering traits. Therefore, it is advised, from the economical and environmental point of view, to use such stimulants (H and /or EM) in replacement of NPK chemical fertilizers for producing good quality pot plants of Gardenia jasminoides.