Response of some mineral content characteristics of young Olive tree leaves (cv. Arbequina) to spraying with Potassium and Chelated Iron

The study was conducted in olive orchard belonging to the College of Agriculture / University of Kirkuk, Iraq, located in the Sayyada area during the 2024 growing season to study the effect of spraying potassium at three concentrations (0, 1000 and 1500) mg L-1 and chelated iron at four concentrations (0, 100, 200 and 300) mg L-1 on some mineral content traits of the leaves of 4-year-old Arbequina olive trees. Spraying was carried out on three dates during the growing season, starting from 15/3 to 15/5, with a one-month interval between each spray. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: spraying with a concentration of 1500 mg L-1 of potassium significantly influenced the levels of macronutrients NPK, carbohydrates, and protein in the leaves, which reached (3.63, 0.72, 5.43, 6.10, 22.66)% respectively. Meanwhile, concentrations of 1000 and 1500 mg L-1 of potassium had a significant effect on the iron content of the leaves, which reached (131.44 and 132.86) mg kg-1 respectively. Spraying with chelated iron at concentrations of 200 and 300 mg L-1 led to a significant increase in the nitrogen and protein in the leaves, which reached (3.57, 3.73 and 22.34, 22.33)% respectively. As for the spraying with a concentration of 300 mg L-1 of chelated iron, it significantly affected the increase in the percentages of phosphorus, potassium, iron, and carbohydrates in the leaves, reaching (0.69%, 5.29%, 135.03 mg kg-1, 6.60%) respectively. The interaction between the concentrations of the studied factors had a significant effect on improving the studied traits