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International Journal of Horticulture 2014, Vol.4, No.12, 58
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Number of leaves at 6 and 9 (at flowering) WAS
shows that plot with no fertilizer application recorded
the lowest number of leaves, while PM produced the
highest number of leaves at 6 WAS and NPK had
more leaves than other treatments at 9 WAS (Figure 2).
This could be due to mineralization of poultry manure
which served as a source of readily available nutrients
and also accumulated in form of humus (Ali et al.,
2007); and the fast growth rate observed in plants
treated with mineral fertilizer might be due to early
and persistence release of nitrogen for crops since it
had immediate release of its nutrient at early state.
This was in line with study by Shortal and Lubhardt
(1995). While the poor result obtained from the
control was an indication that no significant
production could be made without fertilizer application.
Figure 2 Influence of soil amendment on okra leaves number at
3 and 6 weeks after sowing
Law-Ogbomo and Remison (2008) reported that
uptakes and utilization of applied fertilizers
significantly enhanced plant height, number of leaves.
Increase in plant height with fertilizer application
treatment resulted in retention of appreciable amount
of assimilates in the stem for node and leaf production.
This accounted for higher number of leaves in the
treated plants. The enhancement in the number of
leaves by fertilizer application was a precursor to
greater amount of assimilate and thus allowing more
translocation to the berry. Changes in number of
leaves are bound to affect the overall performance of
the plant as the leaves serves as the photosynthetic
organ of the plant. Increase in number of leaves leads
to better utilization of solar radiation (Law-Ogbomo
and Remison, 2008).
The number of flowers, number of fruits and weight
of fruit per plot were significantly improved by the
applications of PM and NPK soil amended. Result
shows that PM treated plots had the highest number of
flowers and fruit, closely followed by NPK amended
plots, while NPK treated plots had the heaviest in term
of okra fruit weight. In all plots with no fertilizer
(control) addition have the least values in terms of
number of flowers, fruits and fruit weight (Figure 3).
Relating okra flowering to the fruiting state, the result
shows that an increase in the number of flowers
resulted in an increase in number of fruits and hence
in higher total fruit yield, and vice versa. This
confirmed the findings of Olaniyi and Ajibola (2008),
who reported same scenario for tomato. However, the
sharp increase in the total fruit yields as compared to
the number of flowers and fruits of okra under PM
treatment might be due to the effect of NPK and trace
elements found in appreciable quantity (Dubey and
Guptha, 1996) had an interactive effect on flowering
and fruit production with a significant increase as
compared to control plots. While influence of
fertilizers on okra fruit weight might be due to the
effect of N in increasing water content of vegetables
(Babatola and Olaniyi, 1999; Olaniyi, 2006). The
increased in number of fruits and average weight
could be attributed to the ability of PM to promote
vigorous growth, increase meristematic and physiological
activities in the plants due to supply of plant nutrient
and improvement in the soil properties, thereby,
resulting in the synthesis of more photo-assimilates,
which is used in producing fruits. (Dauda et al., 2008).
Figure 3 Influence of soil amendment on number of flowers,
fruits and fruit weight
The poor result obtained from the control was
indication that no significant production could be
made without fertilizer application. PM released
nutrients into the soil during decomposition,
improving soil fertility. The increased soil fertility led
to significant increase in growth and yield of okra. In
addition, improvement of the physical properties of