The influence of mulching and bioregulators on the production characteristics of endives

Abstract

Endive (Cichorium endivia L.) is a leafy vegetable with excellent nutritional composition and bitter taste. Unlike in Southern and Western Europe, the vegetable is little known in Serbia. In an experiment conducted in the greenhouse in the fall of 2022 (August-October), the influence of mulch and bioregulators on the production characteristics of the narrow-leaved curly endive cultivar "Cigal" (C.e. var. crispum) was studied. An extract of the seaweed Ecklonia maxima, trade name Kelpak, was used as a bioregulator. Endive was grown on raised beds with and without PE mulch film. The bioregulator was applied in several ways, from watering the seedlings to foliar treatment. The best results were obtained with the combination in which the seedlings were irrigated with bioregulator before planting and then treated with it for 10 days. The total weight of the endive leaf rosette was 658.1 g for this combination, while it was 550.7 g for the control. The plants grown on the mulch film showed a statistically very significant increase in the total weight of the leaf rosette. All other parameters studied behaved similarly: the number of leaves in the rosette, the height and width of the leaf rosette, and the mass of the tree. The commercial yield of endive after removal of the oldest leaves ranged from 32.7 to 40.4 t/ha. Based on these studies, it can be recommended for production practice to grow endive on dams and with mulch film, and to treat the plants with natural bioregulators from planting to preharvest.