Effect of vermicompost fertilization, pollen source and bunch bagging on some growth characteristics and yield of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. ‘Medjool’

The study was conducted at Al-Rashidiya Date Palm Research Station, Directorate of Horticulture, Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, during the 2025 growing season to investigate the effects of vermicompost organic fertilizer, pollen source, and bunch bagging on growth characteristics and yield of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. ‘Medjool’. A factorial experiment (2 × 3 × 3) was conducted according to a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. Fifty-four homogeneous and disease-free palm trees, 12 years old, were selected. The experiment included three factors. The first factor was vermicompost fertilization, consisting of no fertilization and soil application of vermicompost at a rate of 10 kg palm⁻¹. The second factor was pollen source, including Ghanami Red, Yellow, and Sumaisimi. The third factor was bunch bagging, including mesh bagging, paper bagging, and an unbagged control treatment. The results showed the following: Vermicompost fertilization significantly increased nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, chlorophyll, fruit weight, flesh weight, and bunch weight compared with the control treatment, which recorded the lowest values for the aforementioned characteristics. Pollen source significantly affected several of the studied characteristics. Yellow pollen recorded the highest nitrogen concentration compared with Sumaisimi pollen, which recorded the lowest nitrogen value. Ghanami Red pollen recorded the highest phosphorus, potassium, chlorophyll, fruit weight, flesh weight, and bunch weight compared with Sumaisimi pollen, which recorded the lowest values. Mesh bagging significantly outperformed the other bagging treatments for the aforementioned characteristics, whereas the control treatment recorded the lowest mean values. The triple interaction between vermicompost fertilization, Ghanami Red pollen, and mesh bagging recorded the highest means for nitrogen, chlorophyll, fruit weight, flesh weight, and bunch weight. The interaction between vermicompost fertilization, yellow pollen, and mesh bagging recorded the highest means for phosphorus and potassium. None of the treatments had a significant effect on seed weight.