Investigation of the Effect of Nutrient Resources and Weed Control on Qualitative and Quantitative Criteria of Cat Tyme (Teucrium polium)

In order to investigate the effects of nutrient resources and weed management on qualitative and quantitative criteria of cat tyme (Teucrium polium), an experiment was conducted as split plot based on a complete randomized block design with 3 replications at the agricultural research station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during the years 2008 and 2009. Treatments included different nutrient resources: manure fertilizer (10 ton/ha), chemical fertilizer (based on the amount of macro elements existing in manure fertilizer), Nitroxin biological fertilizer (4 l/ha), Manure fertilizer (10 ton/ha) plus chemical fertilizer (based on the amount of macro elements existing in manure fertilizer), Nitroxin biological fertilizer (4 l/ha) plus manure fertilizer (10 ton/ha) and control (no fertilizer) under weed infested and weed free conditions. Weed management was located in main plots and nutrient resource in sub plots. In the first year, the highest height of plant was observed in manure + chemical fertilizer treatment (26.3 cm) and the lowest in manure + Nitroxin fertilizer treatment (14.8 cm). The results indicated that there was not significant different between treatments for shoot and crown diameter of cat tyme, in the first year. But in the second year, type of nutrient resource and weed management affected shoot and diameter significantly. The highest and the lowest shoot number was observed in manure+chemical fertilizer under weed free condition (88.5) and control under weed infested condition (38.2), respectively. The highest and the lowest diameter of Teucrium polium were obtained in manure fertilizer (48.4cm) and control (28.6 cm) under weed free condition treatments, respectively. In the first year, the highest of leaf and flower dry matter was observed in manure+chemical fertilizer treatment under weed free condition with 2889 kg/ha. In second year, maximum yield was obtained in Nitroxin biological fertilizer under weed free condition (3261 kg/ha). In the first year, the maximum percentage and yield of essential oil was obtained in chemical fertilizer and manure+Nitroxin treatments under weed free condition. In the second year, the highest essential oil percentage was observed in plants treated with Nitroxin and manure+chemical fertilizer under weed infested condition.