Production and Quality traits of two Flax Varieties as Affected by foliar application of Silicon Fertilizer under sandy soil conditions

Field experiment was conducted in two winter seasons (2013/2014 and 2014/2015) at the Experimental Station of National Research Centre, Al-Nubaria District, El-Behira Governorate, Egypt to study the effect of potassium silicate at a rates of (0, 4 and 8 g/l) and magnesium silicate at a rates of (0, 4 and 8 g/l) as foliar application on production and quality of two flax (Sakha-2 and Amon) varieties under sandy soil conditions. Results show that significant differences among the two flax varieties in all studied characteristics. Sakha-2 variety surpassed Amon in plant height, fruiting zone length, number of fruiting braches/plant, number of capsules/plant, seed yield/plant, straw yield/plant, seed, straw and oil yield/fed. However, Amon variety surpassed Sakha-2 in technical stem length and Oil %. Foliar application of K and Mg may offer the opportunity of correction the deficiencies more quickly and efficiency. Moreover, Si may help plant in correcting nutrient disorder. Potassium silicate foliar application at the rate 8 g/L gave the highest values for the majority tested characters. The greatest straw and fiber yields were obtained when sowing Sakha-2 variety and treated the plants by potassium silicate at the rate of 8 g/l.