Effect of different concentrations of carbon source, salinity and gelling agent on in vitro growth of fig (Ficus carica L.)

Three in vitro experiments were conducted to study the effect of different concentrations of carbon source, salinity and gelling agent on number of new shoots, shoot length, fresh weight, and dry weight of fig (Ficus carica L.) to develop an efficient in vitro propagation method. The results show that there were no significant differences between the three carbon sources regarding number of newly formed shoots and their shoot lengths. However, there were some differences regarding fresh and dry weights. On the other hand, increased salinity concentrations reduced the number of the newly formed shoots, as well as, their shoot lengths. In addition, liquid media produced more shoots compared with the three solidifying agents used. However, there were significant differences among the concentrations of solidifying agents used.Keywords: Carbon source, salinity, gelling agent, fig (Ficus carica L.).African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(9), pp. 936-940

Effect of different types of mulches on 'Newton' tomato yields and fruit cracking under plastic greenhouse conditions

This study was conducted at Al-Balqa` Applied University research station to investigate the effect of different types of mulches on ‘Newton’ tomato yields and fruit cracking incidence under greenhouse conditions. The experiment consisted of seven treatments (black plastic, tuff gravel, clear plastic, compost, crushed stone, shredded wood, and the control); a randomized complete block design with three replicates was used. Different mulch types showed significant effects on early, medium, late, and total yields/ha of the tomato fruits. Higher early and medium yields were obtained using black and clear plastic. Compost resulted with the highest total yield. Results of this study clearly showed that mulching improves total tomato yields under greenhouse conditions. In addition, larger fruits were obtained by applying mulching. Tomato cracking was also slightly affected by the mulch types used in this study