The effect of silicon-containing fertilizers on the growth, development, and productivity of watermelon plants of the variety Charivnyk

Goal. To study the effect of silicon-containing fertilizers on the growth, development, and formation of productivity and quality of watermelon of the variety Charivnyk. Methods. Field — to observe the growth and development of plants, agro-meteorological conditions of the environment and other biological and phenological factors; laboratory — to determine the quality indicators of seeds and harvest; mathematical-statistical — to carry out dispersion analysis and statistical processing of data to assess the reliability of the obtained research results. Results. The greatest length of watermelon seed seedlings (28.2 mm) and the percentage of relative drought resistance (84%) were noted when using a 10% Bai-Si solution for priming with an exposure of 8 hours. The high productivity of watermelon at the level of 25.0 t/ha was obtained with 3 fertilizing of plants (in the tendril, flowering, and fruiting phases) with silicon-containing fertilizer Bai-Si with a single application dose of 0.5 l/ha. According to biochemical quality indicators, variants were distinguished with three-time feeding of plants with silicon-containing fertilizer Kvantum AquaSyl, where dry soluble substances made up 11.1%, total sugars — 8.32%, vitamin C — 9.89 mg/100 g, while in the control — 10.0%, 7.51% and 7.70 mg/100 g respectively. Conclusions. It was found that the application of 10% Bai-Si solution with an exposure of 8 hours had the greatest effect on the length of the seedling (coleoptile) of the seed (28.2 mm) and increased (by 84%) the drought resistance of watermelon plants. Three-time feeding of plants (in the tendril, flowering, and fruiting phases) with silicon-containing fertilizer Quantum AquaSyl increased the quality indicators of watermelon fruits: the content of dry substances was 11.1%, the amount of sugars was 8.32%, the content of vitamin C was 9.89 mg/100 g. The high yield of watermelon fruits (25.0 t/ha) and leaf surface area (14,578 m2/ha) were formed after 3 eedings of plants with silicon-containing fertilizer Bai-Si.