THE EFFECT OF NATURAL BIOSTIMULATORS AND SLOW-- DISINTEGRATING FERTILIZERS ON THE QUALITY OF ROSEMARY SEEDLINGS ( Rosmarinus officinalis L . )

In the present work the effect of natural biostimulators and different doses of slow disintegrating fertilizer on the quality of rosemary seedlings was studied. Rosemary seedlings were produced in containers, according to the »speedling system«. During the production of seedlings natural biostimulators Megafol and Viva and microbiological fertilizer Slavol were added. The applied biostimulators made a significant effect on the quality of rosemary seedlings. Different doses of the slow disintegrating fertilizer Scotts (Osmocote Extact) were applied (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 g/l), which also produced a significant influence.

In our country the predominant way of rosemary production is its propagation by cuttings.With increasing interest in this plant species there is a need for intensifying its production.Recently, in modern plant production, apart from the already known hormones, microbiological fertilizers, different biostimulators and bioregulators affecting plant development, have been used (P o i n c e l o t , 1993; M a k s i m o v i ć , at al., 2001;Nelson, 2003).
Biostimulators affect better seed germination (Y i l d i r i m et al., 2002, J e l a č i ć et al., 2006a), and represent stimulators of plant biological activitiy, having simultaneous effects on the plant and on the soil microflora.
The use of slow-disintegrating fertilizers in the production of seedlings in containers (speedling system) and pots (pot system) has so far found its application in the production of pot decorative plants (B e l g e r et al., 1989).One of the most important advantages of the use of these fertilizers is almost complete satisfaction of the plants' requirements for mineral nutrients in a certain period of time by a single use of fertilizers, which is achieved by mixing fertilizers with the substrate prior to planting (H a n i ć , 2000).
The aim of this work was to observe the effect of different natural biostimulators and slow disintegrating fertilizers on the quality of rosemary seedlings.

Material and Methods
The researches were done during of 2006 in the glass house of the Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade.Rosemary seedlings were produced in polystyrene containers, with the capacity of cells (76 cm 3 ).A commercial substrate composed of: white peat (40%) and mixed peat (60%) with the content of salt of around 0.9 g/l and pH value of 5.3 to 5.8 was used as a substrate for seed sowing and production of seedlings.Rosemary seed sowing in the containers was conducted on February 22, 2006.One plant was left in each cell after germination.When conducting the experiment, natural biostimulators and different doses of slowdisintegrating fertilizer were added to plants.
The experiment was divided into two parts; the following treatments (biostimulators) were applied in the first part of the experiment: Control group (where no biostimulator was applied), biostimulators Megafol, Viva and microbiological fertilizer Slavol.
Biostimulator Megafol was applied through the leaf (foliary) in the dose of 1.4 ml/l of water, while Viva was applied to the soil, in the dose of 3ml/l of water.Biostimulators were added to the plants from the 2 pairs of permenant leaves phase, in 12 days intervals.
Natural bio-organic fertilizer Slavol consisting of nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azotobacter chroococum and A. Vinelandi) and phosphomineralizers (Bacillus megaterium and B. subtilis) was also applied.Slavol was applied to the soil in the dose of 5 ml/l of water in intervals of 7 days.
In the second part of the experiment different doses of slow disintegrating fertilizers (treatments) were used in the following variants: control (without fertilizer), 1 g/l , 2 g/l, 3 g/l and 4 g/l of substrate.Scotts (Osmocote Exact) slow disintegrating fertilizer, with the formula 15:9:9:MgO+Me was applied.Fertilizer was added to the plants in the 2 pairs of leaves stage.During the period of seedling production standard care measures were used: watering, shading and ventilation.Seedling production lasted until June 25, 2006.31 plants from each variant were taken by random sampling.
The following parameters of seedling quality were analyzed: height (cm), number of branches, fresh and dry plant mass (g), root length (cm), fresh and dry root mass (g).
The results of the experiments were presented through key descriptive statistics indicators (variation interval, arithmetical mean and its standard error and variation coefficient).The equality of variances of analyzed treatments was tested by Levene's test and in accordance with the obtained result statistical significance of differences between average values for each tested parameter was tested according to variance analysis method (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis' and mediane test.

Results and Discussion
The Effect of Natural Biostimulators on the Quality of Rosemary Seedlings Research results (Tab.4) show that with the use of Viva biostimulators and microbiological fertilizer Slavol highest average values of height of the rosemary plant were obtained (21.284 and 21.153 cm).The applied biostimulator Megafol did not exhibit any significant differences compared to the control variant.Variation coefficient for all tested treatments is relatively uniform (7.93-9.67%).Positive effect of Viva biostimulator was also determined in the research conducted with some other medicinal and aromatic species (B e a t o v i ć et al ., 2006).
With the use of Viva and Megafol highest production of branches per plant was achieved (8.469).For this analyzed parameter of the seedling quality a high variation coefficient was recorded (27.81-38.44%).The highest value of plant mass (both fresh and dry) was obtained through the use of Viva (1.694 g and 0.414 g) and microbiological fertilizer Slavol (1.669 g and 0.396 g).The lowest variation coefficient for the tested parameters of fresh and dry plant mass was obtained with the use of Slavol.
Lower average values of the length of root compared to the control variant were used where natural biostimulators and microbiological fertilizers were applied (Tab.4).
Microbiological fertilizer Slavol showed the greatest effect on the root mass (fresh 0.872 g and dry 0.072 g).Also, the lowest values of variation coefficients were obtained for the tested parameters.
According to the results of Levene's test, variances between the observed groups of plants for the following characteristics were homogenous: the height of plants, fresh plant mass and root length (Tab.5).Bearing this in mind, the significance of average values of all groups for these characteristics was tested with parametric variance analysis model, and for the other tested characteristics with non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis' test and mediane test.
The analyzed biostimulators induce statistically highly significant differences between average values of parameters: plant height, number of branches and fresh plant mass.However, according to the mediane test, the difference in the average number of branches is statistically significant, but not highly significant as with other tests.
The use of biostimulators does not change statistically the average length of root and fresh root mass.Only based on the mediane test we can conclude that the dry plant mass and the dry root mass do not depend on the applied biostimulator (Tab.5), while according to the results of ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis' test this effect has statistical significance.
The calculated F values (Tab.5) for the characteristics of the length and mass of fresh root were less than 1, which means that the data in the samples were less homogenous than between the samples, so the parametric ANOVA model cannot be used.That is why the length of root parameter should be tested with non-parametric tests, notwithstanding the homogenity of sample variances.Highest average values (22.209 cm) for the height of plant (Tab.6) were obained with the dose of 3 g/l of slow disintegrating fertilizer.Variation coefficient for the analyzed parameter ranges from 5% to 10%.The dose of 4 g/l had the greatest effect on the production of branches per plant (11.75).The highest variation coefficient for the number of branches was recorded in the control variant (38.44%).
The highest value of fresh plant mass (2.22 g) was obtained with the use of the 3 g/l dose.The applied dose of 4 g/l failed to exhibit the expected effect on the fresh plant mass, but it exhibited lower average values compared to the dose of 2 g/l.Based on these results, we can conclude that the dose of 3 g/l was a limiting quantity for the fresh plant mass.
The dose of 3 g/l had also the greatest effect on the fresh root mass (0.931 g).By increasing the dose (g/l) of slow disintegrating fertilizer, lower average values of root mass were obtained compared to the applied doses of 2 and 3 g/l.
in the researches conducted by B o y e at al., 1991; S e r r a n o et al., 2001.Likewise, a positive effect of different doses of slow disintegrating fertilizers was obtained in the research in the production of seedlings and other medicinal plant species: basil, garden balm and sage (J e l a č i ć et al., 2006b).The applied 3 g/l dose of slow disintegrating fertilizer as the optimal dose for rosemary was verified in the researches conducted with other medicinal and aromatic species (B e a t o v i ć et al., 2007).UTICAJ PRIRODNIH BIOSTIMULATORA I SPORORAZLAGAJUĆEG ĐUBRIVA NA KVALITET RASADA RUZMARINA (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) Slavica Jelačić 1 , D. Beatović 1 , Nada Lakić 1 i Ana Vujošević 1 R e z i m e