The Effect of foliar spraying with lactic acid bacteria on the growth and yield of citrus orange trees variety (Valencia)

Abstract

The study was conducted during the 2022-2023 seasons on Valencia orange trees grafted on sour orange rootstock, with the aim of studying the effect of foliar spraying with lactic acid bacteria on vegetative and fruitful growth indicators

The results showed the positive effects of the treatments in improving most of the studied growth indicators compared to the control treatment. The treatment of spraying with lactic acid bacteria at a concentration of 30 ml/L gave the highest value in terms of the number and lengths of new vegetative growth ( 8.42 shoots,10.32 cm ) and the highest percentage of the fruiting coefficient (4.2%).

The same treatment also yielded the highest yield of 105.25 kg/tree, while the 20 ml/L spray treatment resulted in the highest percentage of fruit remaining at harvest (21.5%) and the highest fruit set percentage (32.59%). No significant differences were recorded between the treatments in terms of leaf area and total leaf chlorophyll content

The spray treatment of 30 ml/L also achieved the highest total dissolved solids (11.67) percentage and the highest TSS/TA maturity index value of 13.72. The study concluded that the 30 ml/L spray treatment was superior in most of the studied growth indicators.