EFFECT OF CULTIVAR, NUMBER OF APPLICATION AND LEVELS OF SEAWEED (SEAFORCE1) ON THE QUALITY CHARACTERICTICS AND MINERAL CONTENT OF SQUASH PLANT Cucurbita pepo L.

Abstract

This study was conducted in the vegetable farm research , college of agriculture , duhok university. Three levels of seaweed extracts " Seaforce 1 " (i.e.zero,2,3 ml / liter ) as a folair application in two squash plant cultivars " Mullah ahmed and Zucchini " at spring and autumn growing seasons /2009. Plants were sprayed once at the begining of flowering and twice (first at the beginning of flowering and the second after 15 days from the first spraying). Results indicated that spraying with seaforce1 twice increased total Soluble solids, which reached 11.34, 11.27%, While fruit firmness decreased in the first and second season respectively. Results also indicated that nutrient concentrations, N , P, K, increased in the first and second season. We concluded that spraying with Sea force1 twice at 3 ml/ l gave the best results .