Abstract
Rhizophagus irregularis is an arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus that can enhance plant nutrition and reduce transplant shock on seedlings. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of this fungus on the quality of cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) seedlings. A greenhouse float system experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three treatments. The treatments included the application of 40, 80 and 120 fungus spores per L of nutrient solution (AMF1, AMF2 and AMF3, respectively). The evaluation was performed based on the agronomic characteristics of the seedlings (root and stem length and weight, stem diameter), N and P content, survival rate, and the Dickson’s quality index (DQI). Results indicated that root length and stem dry weight were significantly increased (by 34.14% and 21.4%, respectively) in the AMF3 treatment. The biomass of the seedlings’ roots, the fresh weight and the N content were not affected by the AMF. On the contrary, survival rate, P content and DQI were significantly increased in AMF3 (by 5%, 24.3% and 12.4% respectively). Overall, our findings suggest that the application of high doses of Rhizophagus irregularis (AMF3) on float system-produced cannabis seedlings results in a considerable increment of their quality.
Highlights
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops that has been cultivated for centuries due to its adaptability to various environments [1,2]
The present study aims to examine for the first time to our knowledge, the effect of Rhizophagus irregularis on the quality of cannabis seedlings produced on a float system, by utilizing Dickson’s Quality Index
Root colonization analysis demonstrated that control treatment reported the lowest mycorrhizal infestation
Summary
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops that has been cultivated for centuries due to its adaptability to various environments [1,2]. Its cultivation is linked with numerous products in textile fiber, food, seed oil, and medicine sectors [3,4]. Cannabis produces textiles of high quality and great strength [5], and seeds of high nutraceutical value, while it composes hundreds of secondary metabolites with medicinal components [4,6]. Despite the versatility of cannabis, legal restrictions led to the prohibition of the crop due to the psychoactive secondary metabolite ∆9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) [7]. During recent decades significant interest has been raised due to the reauthorization of the crop [8,9,10,11]. Cannabis is cultivated in more than 40 countries worldwide, as well as in several European Union (EU) countries [12]
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