Effects of Foliar Fertilizer Application on Quality of Tea (Camellia sinensis) Grown in the Kenyan Highlands

摘要

In Kenya, foliar fertilizers have not found use in tea production despite their numerous advantages as exhibited in other crops. A fertilizer trial test was established in three sites of the major tea growing regions, with 36 plots per site to determine the effects of foliar fertilizer application on tea quality. Two foliar fertilizers were tested; foliar fertilizer 1 (FF1) and foliar fertilizer 2 (FF2), with a positive control of soil fertilizer (SF) and a blank. Two leaves and a bud tea samples were collected every two weeks after each foliar fertilizer application. These were then analyzed for tea quality (total polyphenols, TP), nutrient residues for the different clones and geographical locations. The TP contents for clone TRFK 31/8 were as follows: FF1 = 17.8%, FF2 = 17.9%, SF = 16.56% and Zero = 17.4%. Tukey-Kramer pair wise comparison test results between the foliar fertilizers and SF showed that the FF1 (HSD = 4.78) and FF2 (HSD = 5.27) fertilizers had significantly (P