Plant Growth, Productivity and Chemical Components of <em>Echinacea purpurea</em> L. Plant as Affected by Cultivation Method and Pinching

Author : Walid M.A. Moghith

The study was conducted at the Experimental Station of the Desert Research Center in Ras Sudr, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, during the two seasons of 2021 and 2022. This study aimed to investigate the effects of two cultivation methods (direct seeding and transplanting) and different pinching treatments (control, single pinching, and double pinching) on vegetative and flowering characters (plant height, branches number/plant, fresh weight of herb/plant and dry weight of herb/plant, number of flowering heads/plant, fresh weight of flowering heads/plant and dry weight of flowering heads/plant) and chemical components (N, P, K, leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD unit) and carbohydrate percentage) of Echinacea purpurea L. plants. The findings demonstrated the effects of cultivation methods and pinching on Echinacea purpurea L.; in most cases, transplanting is a better cultivation method than direct seeding, particularly when it comes to the characteristics of the plant's fresh and dry weight, which in turn influences the plant's fresh and dry yield, which is the economically significant portion of Echinacea purpurea; for vegetative traits, single pinching was the best pest treatment; on the other hand, for the number and weight of flowering head characters, double pinching was the most effective strategy; nevertheless, there are some minor nutrient deficiencies in the plant content that should be noted.

Keywords : Echinacea purpurea L., pinching, transplanting, flowering heads,

Received:7/20/2023 12:00:00 AM; Accepted: 9/15/2023 12:00:00 AM