Field performance of spider plant (<i>Cleome gynandra </i>l) under different agronomic practices

Abstract

Field experiments were carried out at Kaguvi Vocational Training Centre located in the
Midlands province of Zimbabwe, to determine the effect of planting date and fertilizer
types in enhancing the productivity of spider plant, an indigenous leafy vegetable. The
experimental design was a split- plot arranged in a randomized complete block design
(RCBD) with three blocks. The planting date was the main plot with three levels
(15/10/12, 30/01/13 and 15/02/13) and the fertilizer treatments as the subplots with
seven levels including a control (no fertilizer applied), 20 t/ha cattle manure, 30 t/ha
cattle manure, 5 t/ha poultry manure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D +
100 kg/ha ammonium nitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammonium
nitrate). Growth parameters, vitamin A and C, crude protein, iron content, fresh and dry
yield were significantly (p<0.05) increased by use of organic and inorganic fertilizers
across all planting dates compared to the control where no fertilizers were added. The
October 2012 planting date, combined with high rates of organic and inorganic
fertilizers had the best response with regards to the variables measured, including the
duration of the harvest period which was nine weeks, compared to the January and
February planting dates where harvesting was for six weeks. The inorganic fertilizers
provided readily available nutrients for uptake by the plants while the long production
period for the October 2012 planting date enabled the organic manures (cattle and
poultry manure) adequate time to release the nutrients for uptake, compared to the
January 2013 and February 2013 planting dates. It can be concluded that there is merit
in staggering the planting dates while using organic and inorganic fertilizers as the
practice results in an extended harvest period. High rates of both inorganic and organic
fertilizers are recommended for the different planting dates as follows; 30 t/ha cattle
manure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D + 100 kg/ha ammonium
nitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammonium nitrate.

Key words: Indigenous vegetable, spider plant, planting dates, fertilizers, nutrients