The effects of different nitrogen doses and harvesting times on yield and quality of anatolian sage (Salvia fruticosa mill.) grown under dry and irrigated conditions

This research was carried out between 2015 and 2017 to determine the effects of different nitrogen doses and harvest times on yield and quality in sage (Salvia fruticosa Mill.) grown under irrigated and dry conditions of Çanakkale. The experiments have been designed with 4 replications along with the application of four different nitrogen doses (0, 6, 12 and 18 N kg/da) by considering four different harvesting times such as pre-flowering, beginning of flowering, full flowering and seed formation. In the trial, plant height (cm), habitus diameter (cm), branch number (number), stem diameter (mm), folia length (mm), folia width (mm), fresh herbage yield (kg/ha), dry herbage yield (kg/ha), fresh folia yield (kg/ha), dry folia yield (kg/ha), essential oil ratio (%) and essential oil yield (l/ha), were investigated. Total dry leaf yield in irrigated conditions was 351.10-486.05 kg/da in the first year, and 318.31-598.39 kg/da in the second year. The values under rainfed conditions were 99.90-251.64 kg/da in the first year, and 484.10-858.43 kg/da in the second year. Essential oil ratio was 2.18-2.78% in the first year, 1.71-2.85% in the second year under irrigated conditions, while 2.16-2.66% and 1.78-2.78% in the rainfed conditions, respectively. According to the results of the research, the highest yields of dry herbage, dry folia, and essential oil were obtained from the 6 kg/da nitrogen plots harvested at the beginning of flowering under the irrigated conditions, whereas the harvests made during full flowering and seed formation periods from the 18 kg/da nitrogen plots yielded the best results under dry conditions.