Abstract
Waterleaf (Talinum fruticosum) is a vegetable useful to millions of sub-Saharan Africans; eaten as a leafy vegetable and useful in herbal medicine. During the dry season waterleaf farming becomes tedious for growers because of the need to supply water to the crop. Knowledge of the adequate water requirements for waterleaf will lead to more precise application regime. This research explored a means to establish an adequate watering regime; by studying the effect of different watering regimes on growth and production of water leaf. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with 10 replications. The treatments were 4 different watering intervals of 1-day, 3-days’, 5-days’ and 7-days. Parameters measured were plant height, leaf number, stem circumference and above ground fresh weight (FW). There was no significant effect of watering treatment on plant height and leaf number. Average fresh weight/plant across all treatments ranged from 1.4 -8.68 g/plant. There was a significant effect of watering regimes on the FW at 9 weeks after planting (P=0.026). Water application at 7-day interval produced FW of 8.68g/plant higher than the 3-day interval (2.65g/plant). No difference was observed between the 1, 3 and 5-day interval of watering. This result indicated that water supply at a frequency of 1-7 days may not influence leaf production/plant or plant height but may affect the overall FW/plant which has the potential to significantly affect foliage yield. Delayed application up to 7 days showed the most promising response with regard to FW yield, implying watering at a 1-3-day interval in the dry season could decrease foliage yield.