INFLUENCE OF INTERCROPPING SYSTEM BETWEEN CORIANDER AND GARLIC AS WELL AS POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION SOURCE ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GARLIC PLANT

: This work was carried out in a Private Farm at Kofor Negm Village, Elibrahimia District (N, 31° 33′ 47.11″ E 6.23″ 43′ 30°), Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, during the two consecutive winter seasons of 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 to study the influence of different potassium fertilizer sources [potassium citrate (36.5%K 2 O), potassium thiosulphate (35% K 2 O) and potassium silicate (18% K 2 O) as foliar spray], different intercropping systems (sole crop of each components as control, 1: 1, 1: 2, 2: 1 and 2: 2 as row ratio of coriander: garlic) and their combination treatments on growth parameters, yield components and chemical constituents of garlic crop. The findings showed that, when coriander was intercropped with garlic at a ratio of 1: 2 as opposed to sole crop and the other intercropping systems under study, the highest benefits were obtained in terms of growth (plant height, number of leaves per plant, and total plant dry weight), yield components (bulb diameter, number of cloves per bulb, and average bulb weight), as well as N, P, K, and total carbohydrates percentage in garlic cloves. Compared to the other sources of potassium under study, potassium silicate application as a foliar spray four times/seasons produced a higher bulbs yield per feddan. The results indicated that, the development and production of the garlic crop can be maximized by using an intercropping system of 1 ridge of coriander: 2 ridges of garlic and potassium silicate application.