Abstract:
Holy basil is cultivated in the tropics for its religious, medicinal and food purposes. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the major soil types in Alabama on the vegetative growth and elemental content of basil plant. The effects of different soil types on the vegetative growth and elemental content of Basil were investigated in a Greenhouse setting with soil samples that were collected from the major physiographic units of Alabama -Coastal plain, Appalachian plateau, Piedmont, and Highland rim. The experiment was designed to fit a Completely Randomized Design (CRD).Holy basil seeds were planted in germination trays, allowed to germinate and grow for six weeks in nursery, and transplanted into the plastic pots containing the 4 Alabama soil types. At the end of sixteen weeks observational period after transplanting, plants were uprooted, processed and analyzed. Results showed that vegetative growth of basil measured by plant height, and the number of branches performed best in the Coastal plain soils followed by the Appalachian plateau. These may be due to the pH of the soils that fall within the pH range that basil performs well. Phosphorus and Magnesium in the root and shoot of the plants grown in the soils showed significant differences at ? = 0.05 probably due to the high content of P in the soil. |
