Abstract
Problem statement: To determine the effect of MgCl2 on radish (Raphanus sativus), plants were grown in controlled environmental growth chambers and given one of three watering treatments; 0.01, 0.1 and 0 M (control) MgCl2. Approach: At high concentrations (0.1 M), MgCl2 was toxic resulting in very low (44%) germination rates and the subsequent death of all but three undersized plants over the 28 day growth period. Results: At lower concentrations (0.01 M), MgCl2 resulted in enhanced germination rates (5.55%) and a mass increase (39.54%) over the control. Conclusion/Recommendations: While low concentrations of MgCl2 resulted in an increase in total biomass, biomass allocation was shifted largely from roots to shoots (55.88% higher root/shoot ratio in the control).
Highlights
Millions of tons of salt are applied to road surfaces every winter in the United States and Canada as deicer to allow for safe transit
Roads can receive more than 50 tons of salt per mile annually, with 400-800 pounds of salt laid per application (Ramakrishna and Viraraghavan, 2005)
Two trays were designated for each treatment and a tray from each treatment was placed into one of two environmental growth chambers
Summary
Millions of tons of salt are applied to road surfaces every winter in the United States and Canada as deicer to allow for safe transit. The large amounts of MgCl2 applied to road surfaces annually is of significant environmental concern as small increases in the concentration of soil and water could have a significant impact on the plants and wild life of affected areas (Dougherty and Smith, 2006). While higher concentrations of MgCl2 may be harmful to plant growth and viability, the magnesium ion is important in higher plant physiology (Shabala and Hariadi, 2005). The pathological implications of MgCl2 deficiency in plants is of great interest as a growing area of research (Shabala and Hariadi, 2005; Cakmak and Kirkby, 2008). Sci., 7 (2): 132-135, 2011 hypothesized that the 0.1 M MgCl2 water treatment would be lethal to radish and that relatively low concentrations of MgCl2 (0.01 M) would increase germination rates and growth
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