Effect Of Treatment With Indole Butyric Acid And Potassium Humate On Some Growth And Yield Traits Of The Aleppo 124 Cotton Strain

Abstract

This research was conducted at the Jubb Ramleh Research Station (northwest of Hama Governorate), affiliated with the Ghab Research Center–General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research. The aim was to evaluate the combined effect of different concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and potassium humate on vegetative growth, fruiting, and yield traits of the cotton cultivar Aleppo 124. The treatments included multiple levels of IBA (1, 2, and 4 g·L⁻¹) and potassium humate (2 and 4 g·L⁻¹). Measurements were taken for plant height, number of vegetative and fruiting branches, total and open bolls, and yield per plant. The experiment was designed using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications, and data were statistically analyzed at a significance level of ≤0.05.

Results showed that the combined treatment of the intermediate concentration of IBA with the higher level of potassium humate (T2S4) significantly improved most studied traits, recording the highest plant height (111.7 cm), greatest number of fruiting branches (13.48 branches·plant⁻¹), and highest number of open bolls (17.55 bolls·plant⁻¹). The increase in yield under T2S4 was mainly due to the rise in boll number rather than boll size. The study demonstrated that the synergistic use of IBA and potassium humate led to clear improvements in growth and productivity by enhancing both vegetative and reproductive development, offering a promising agronomic strategy to increase cotton yield and improve fiber quality under similar environmental conditions.