EFFECT OF ACIDS AND ORGANIC NUTRIENTS ON CAULIFLOWER GROWTH AND YIELD AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND FERTILIZER PRODUCTIVITY OF A MODIFIED NFT HYDROPONICS SYSTEM

Using the hydroponics of a modified NFT system, a field experiment was conducted aimed at investigating the physiological effects of acids and organic nutrients on cauliflower development and yield as well as water use efficiency and fertilizer productivity. Alnahar F1 hybrid cauliflower seeds were used in the RCBD experiment with three replications involving two types of nutrients, i.e., karma trio acid and Algaton 20 at 0.5 and 1ml. L-1 concentrations each, as well as the control treatment. The means were compared at a significance level of less than 5%. The findings demonstrated the considerable superiority of the Algaton 20 1ml.L-1 treatment in the leaf content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, chlorophyll, plant height, leaf count, leaf area, plant and root dry weight, head diameter and weight, total yield, water use efficiency, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium recovery efficiency, and fertilizer productivity, at 3.85, 0.69, 2.74%, 419.70 mg.100 g fresh weight, 43.0 cm height, 33.0 leaves plant-1, 568.81 dsm². plant-1, 198.00, 13.0 g. plant-1, 25.50 cm head size, 1872.0 g. plant-1, 103.99 t. ha-1, 112.32 kg.m³-1, 19.76, 13.45, 14.28%, and 42.67 kg yield, respectively compared to the T0 treatment. The findings show the possibility of culturing cauliflower hydroponically and increase its productivity through spraying with Algaton 20 at a 1 ml. L-1 concentration