Effect of Different Irrigation Treatments on Growth and Development of Schefflera arboricola, (Hayata) Kanehira

 THIS study was carried out at the Ornamental Plant Research Department, Horticulture Research Institute, Agriculture Research Centre, Giza, Egypt in March of two seasons, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. Three locations i.e. the nursery, the black saran house and the office and 4 amounts of water (300, 450, 600 and 750 cm3/pot/week) for irrigating, Schefflera arboricola, plants were compared. The following results were obtained:
Plants grown in the nursery ranked the first among other treatments for the following characters; plant height, root length, root fresh and dry weights, leaf and stem contents of total carbohydrates, leaf contents of total chlorophyll and carotenoids. Plants grown in the saran house resulted in high values of plant height, number of branches, number of leaves, shoot fresh and dry weights. On the other hand, plants kept in the office for ornamentation scored the lowest values of all studied characteristics.
Plants received 300 cm
3/pot/week for irrigation achieved the highest rank concerning root length. Irrigating plants with 450 cm3/pot/week resulted in the highest values concerning plant height, number of branches, number of leaves, shoot fresh and dry weights, root length, content of total carbohydrates in leaves and stem. Irrigation with 600 cm3/pot/week gained the highest category for characters of plant height, shoot fresh and dry weights, root length, root dry weight and leaf content of total carbohydrates. Plants that obtained the lowest values in all characteristics were committed with those irrigated with 750 cm3/pot/week.
The best watering amounts to be used in each location in order to attain the best ornamental characters, could be deduced from the interaction of the two previous factors as follows: The highest values of plant height, number of branches, number of leaves, shoot fresh and dry weights were achieved when 600, 450 or 300 cm
3/pot/week were used to irrigate plants in the nursery, the saran house and the office, respectively. On the other side, using 750 cm3/pot/week for watering resulted in the lowest values of number of branches, number of leaves, shoot fresh and dry weights for plants in the three locations, in addition to plant height for plants grown in the saran house or kept in the office.
It is recommended to grow
Schefflera arboricola plants in the nursery rather than the saran house for production purposes, and to use