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Plant growth analysis is a standard approach to study plant growth and productivity. The following
plants Boscia angustifolia, Zanthoxylum chalybeum and Melea volkensii were selected based on
their antifungal activities on rust from previous experiments. The extracts were used as single
treatments and combined with each other namely; Z. chalybeum- M. volkensii, B. angustifolia - Z.
chalybeum and B. angustifolia - M. volkensii making a total of eight treatments including a negative
and positive controls. Soil analysis of study site was conducted. Plant growth parameters that
include plant shoot height and dry shoot weight were used to assess the effects of various treatments
on bean plant performance. Ten plants sampled in each of the four plots in a treatment were
uprooted and sampled leaves plucked and area measured. In this study the plots where the French
beans were grown had nitrogen and phosphorous deficiency. Phosphorus was in low levels
(5.4mgkg-1) which was appropriate for French beans hence it was necessary to supply fertilizer of
right amounts to supplement the deficiency. Commercial fungicide (Kocide DF) treatment did not
affect the leaf area but Z. chalybeum treatment had the lowest mean leaf area throughout the growth
period. This may suggest that the commercial fungicide can be tolerated by the plants. Z. chalybeum
treatment may have had some secondary metabolites that could have been harmful to the bean
plants. B. angustifolia –Z. chalybeum, M. volkensii and Kocide DF treatments had highest mean dry
shoot weights throughout the growth period meaning they were friendly to the physiological
processes. Untreated control and Z. chalybeum had lower mean dry shoot weights; this could be
because of the higher disease severity and incidence. Commercial fungicide, untreated control and
Z. chalybeum treatments had lower mean shoot heights compared to other treatments. This indicated
that apart from rust disease causing low shoot height in untreated control, Kocide DF and Z.
chalybeum treatments could have initiated production of compounds that deterred increase in shoot
height.
Keywords: antifungal; dry shoot weight; shoot height; leaf area