Seed Yield, Quality and Plant Characteristics Changes of Rocket Salad (Eruca sativa Mill.) under Different Nitrogen Sources and Vegetation Periods

Rocket salad is an ancient, under-utilized crop, which is either gathered from the wild or cultivated mainly as a leaf vegetable and oil crop in several european and near east countries. the economic potential of rocket salad is steadily increasing in recent years. in this research effects of three sowing dates (1st day of november, january and march, 2002) and three nitrogen sources on plant height, number of branches per plant, number of siliqua per plant, number of seeds per siliqua, siliqua length (cm), 1000 seed weight (g), seed yield (kg/ha), and final germination (%) were determined. results revealed that sowing dates statistically influenced on plant height, number of branches per plant, siliqua length, 1000 seed weight and seed yield, while nitrogen sources statistically influenced on the number of branches per plant, number of siliqua per plant, number of seeds persiliqua and seed yield. in general early sowings resulted higher seed yields than late sowing and also calcium nitrate application showed a higher seed yield comparable to organic manure and ammonium sulfate treatments. the highest seed yield obtained from november sowing (1364,4 kg/ha) and calcium nitrate (1168,9 kg/ha) treatment.