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The appropriate management of crop conditions can reduce the salt damage suffered by ornamental species and produce high-quality plants even when saline irrigation water is used. The aim of this study was to determine whether the pot-in-pot (PIP) cultivation system can improve the saline irrigation tolerance of Euonymus japonicus compared with aboveground potting (AGP) in terms of growth and development, aesthetic quality, ion accumulation, and leaf potentials. A 5-month experiment started on 6 Mar., and the interaction between the cultivation system (PIP or AGP) and water quality (fresh water and saline water, with 1.76 and 9.04 dS·m−1, respectively) was assessed. The substrate used was a mixture of white peat, coconut fiber, and perlite (40/40/20, v/v/v). A soil moisture sensor-controlled system was used to irrigate all the treatments when the AGP treatment irrigated with fresh water reached a volume water content (θ) of 0.33–0.35 m3·m−3. An interaction effect reduced the salinity effects in PIP and saline irrigation (PIP-s) compared with AGP and saline irrigation (AGP-s) in terms of damaged leaf area, plant dry weight (DW), and the compactness index. The PIP-s plants showed a survival rate of 93% compared with 57% in AGP-s. The substrate temperatures were milder in PIP regardless of the irrigation water, and the pore water electrical conductivity (EC) was 36% lower in PIP-s than in AGP-s. PIP reduced the Cl− accumulated in leaves but did not influence Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, or the K+/Na+ ratio. The lower amount of Cl− accumulated increased leaf water potential (Ψo) in PIP. Saline irrigation produced a general accumulation of Cl− and Na+ in leaves and decreased Ca2+, Mg2+, the K+/Na+ ratio, Ψo, the shoot to root ratio, and height. In general, PIP reduced the salinity damage to Euonymus japonicus, the main effect being the lower Cl− ion uptake, which improved its aesthetic value (less damage and greater compactness and growth).
Six muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) Galia-type cultivars (`Delada', `Gallicum', `Galor', `Melina', `Regal' and `Revigal') were tested for salt tolerance at the seedling stage and during growth in the field. Three levels of salinity (ECW 2.5 (control), 5.0 and 7.5 dS·m-1), established by adding NaCl to fresh water, were used. The effect of salinity on seedling growth was assessed by measuring the total leaf area 36 days after sowing. `Melina' was the most tolerant at this stage and during subsequent growth in field, with a relative seedling leaf area of 60 and a relative yield of 66 at 7.5 dS·m-1 salinity, both expressed as a percentage of the values obtained at the control level of salinity. `Delada' was the most sensitive to the highest level of salinity at both stages, with relative seedling leaf area and yield of 51 and 56, respectively. For all cultivars, a highly significant correlation (r = 0.99) was established between the influence of salinity on seedling leaf area reduction and on decrease in yield during field culture. The results indicate that the reduction in seedling leaf area can be a good selection criterion to facilitate rapid screening for salt tolerance in muskmelon.
Physiological and biochemical indicators that reflect the responses of plants to chilling stress could be useful for identifying plant damage caused by freezing or other stresses. The objective of this study was to determine any relationship between changes in chlorophyll fluorescence and the appearance of visual symptoms resulting from freezing temperatures in two cultivars of oleander. In the least frost-sensitive cultivar (yellow oleander), freezing temperatures (–4 °C for 3 h) did not produce changes in the photochemical parameters. In the more frost-sensitive cultivar (pink oleander), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and the maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) decreased after the same freezing treatment. The first of these potential indicators remained low, whereas the second steadily recovered during the 4 months after freezing simulation. The results suggest that measuring chlorophyll fluorescence may provide a rapid method for assessing freezing injury in oleander.
Potted gerberas were grown in a greenhouse with one, two, or four emitters (1.2 L·h−1) per pot and irrigated with water of two levels of salinity (1.5 dS·m−1 and 3 dS·m−1). All pots received the same volume of water. The aim was to determine whether the number of emitters per pot affects the distribution of roots and salts in the substrate (100% coconut fiber). We determined the electrical conductivity (EC) distribution at three different heights (upper, middle, and lower). We also studied the roots and EC horizontal distribution in four quadrants (southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast). Shoot growth, leaf damage, plant water status, and photochemical capacity of photosystem II were also studied. Two or four emitters per pot reduced the leaching fraction compared with that observed with one emitter, improving both the amount and homogeneity of substrate moisture. In the two saline conditions used, the salt concentration in the substrate was irregular both vertically and horizontally, and the presence of roots in the horizontal quadrant sides was heterogeneous. Both of these behaviors decreased as the number of emitters per pot increased. Root growth was weakly related with the soluble salt content in the root zone. When saline water is used, two emitters per pot are to be recommended because the difference between using two and four emitters was very slight. The use of only one emitter reduced shoot and root growth and encouraged salt damage to leaves.
The influence of two irrigation treatments during nursery production on the post-transplant development of Lotus creticus subsp. cytisoides was studied. The treatments lasted 96 days and consisted of irrigating 2 days/week with a total of 2.3 L of water per plant over the whole nursery period (T-2) or irrigating six days per week with a total of 7 L of water per plant (T-6). T-2 plants had greater root length: shoot length ratio and higher percentage of brown roots, an indicator of more resistance to post-transplant stress. Minirhizotrons revealed more active root growth in the surface soil of the T-2 plants, although the plants of both treatments rapidly colonized the whole soil depth studied (0-160 cm deep). T-2 plants had greater stem length growth per unit of soil area covered.
The dendrometer has been proposed as a sensitive plant water indicator based on stem growth. However, studies including dendrometers have been mainly focused on fruit trees and less attention has been paid to ornamental shrubs (small plants). In the study described here, stem dendrometers were used to ascertain whether there is any relationship between water status and dendrometric indices in potted ornamental shrubs (1 to 2 cm diameter). For this purpose, three Mediterranean shrubs (Pittosporum tobira, Callistemon citrinus, and Rhamnus alaternus) were studied under water stress recovery conditions in winter, spring, and early summer. At the end of the experiment, an extreme water stress treatment, which resulted in plant death (August) was also studied. Stem diameter variations [maximum and minimum daily stem values (MXDS and MNDS, respectively), maximum daily shrinkage (MDS), and stem growth rate (SGR)], daily evapotranspiration (daily plant ET), and leaf water potential (Ψleaf) parameters were considered throughout the experiment. A regression analysis between dendrometric indices and daily plant ET showed that MXDS and MNDS were sensitive under water stress recovery conditions, especially in severe environmental conditions (spring and summer). The SGR in C. citrinus, the MDS in P. tobira, and both indices in R. alaternus were seen to be sensitive during the stress to death period. Although more studies are needed, the results confirm that the use of dendrometers in small plants may be useful to provide continuous and automated registers of the plant water status under different substrate water content and climatic conditions. However, the response of these indices may imply moderate water stress.
Euonymus japonica Thunb. (euonymus) plants were submitted for 9 months to two irrigation treatments using water from different sources: a control (C) water with electrical conductivity (EC) less than 1.2 dS·m−1 and reclaimed wastewater (RW) with EC ≈4 dS·m−1. At the end of the experiment, no differences in the total dry weight were observed between treatments, whereas the leaf dry mass increased (to the detriment of the root part in RW plants). Throughout the day, the stem water potential (Ψstem) of the RW plants was lower than in C, whereas stomatal conductance (g S) was slightly reduced in RW from 0800 hr to 1200 hr, but no significant variation in photosynthesis (Pn) or energy conversion efficiency (F′v/F′m) in photosystem II was detected through the effect of salinity. Gas exchange and fluorescence showed a tendency to increase after midday in plants treated with RW. The photosynthetic behavior and fluorescence of RW plants may have been related to the nitrogen and chlorophyll content of the leaves, confirming the resistance of the photosynthetic mechanism to salinity in this species in these conditions. The toxic effects produced by high concentrations of boron (B), sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl–) were offset by the effect of other ions like magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), and phosphorus (P) in plants irrigated with RW, thus improving their physiological status without decreasing their ornamental value.