585 Indole Acetic Acid Reduced Some Adverse Effects of Salt Stress on Date Palm Seedlings

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the United Arab Emirates Univ., in Al-Ain, to study the effect of saline water on the growth characteristics of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seedings cultivar Lulu-salt alone or a combination of NaCl and indole acetic acid (IAA) or IAA alone were tested with different levels. Then the plant growth characteristics were measured. Hormone did not antagonize the salt effect on shoot length of date palm seedlings. Application of 24 mg·L–1 salt alone or in combination with hormone and 12 mg·L–1 in combination with 0.2 mg·L–1 IAA significantly increased the root: shoot ratio over the control. Irrigation date palm seedlings with saline water alone or in combination with IAA for 80 days resulted in a significant increase in dry matter (percentage) of leaves with salt symptoms, whereas the number of leaves per seedling were reduced over the control. The results also showed that the irrigation of seedlings with 0.15 mg·L–1 IAA in combination with 24 or 12 mg·L–1 salt alleviated adverse effect of salt by increasing or reducing significantly root length or leaves with salt symptoms percentage over using 24 or 12 mg·L–1 salt alone.