Growth of lulo (Solanum quitoense Lam.) plants affected by salinity and substrate

Sandra Liliana Flórez,Diego Miranda Lasprilla,Stsnislav Magnitskiy,Gerhard Fischer,Bernardo Chaves

doi:10.1590/s0100-29452008000200023

Sandra Liliana Flórez, Diego Miranda Lasprilla + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-29452008000200023

Copy DOI

Abstract

The effects of 0, 30 and 60 mM NaCl and substrates (red peat, sand or 3:1:1 [w/w] mixture of peat, sand, or soil) on vegetative growth of lulo, an Andean fruit species, during 12 weeks were studied. The experiment was carried out by using 2000 cm³ of polypropylene plastic pots under greenhouse conditions. Plant height, number of leaves and nodes, leaf area, total plant dry matter (DM), and shoot/root ratio were evaluated. With the increase of salt concentration, the plant height, the number of leaves and nodes, the leaf areas and plant dry mass DM decreased, whereas shoot/root ratio increased. Sand grown lulo plants were most affected by salinity and presented total mortality at 60 mM NaCl. On the other hand, plants held either in peat or in substrate mixture developed larger height, greater leaf and node numbers, higher leaf area and dry matter content. Shoot/root ratio in control (soil) and sand-grown plants (30 mM NaCl) was lower.

Highlights

Soil salinity is one of the most serious stress factors in the agriculture (Rains y Goyal, 2003), limiting growth and yield of many crops
Applying 60 mM NaCl in sand substrate, all plants died until the 5th week, this treatment was excluded from the analyses
Plant height With increasing concentration of NaCl, the rate of increase in the height was diminished (Fig. 1a). This response coincides with the results of Chartzoulakis et al (2000) for hybrids of pepper (Capsicum annum L.) established in a mixture of perlite and sand (1:3 v/v), and those of Bañon et al (2005) when Nerium oleander seedlings treated with 70 mM NaCl reached only 28% of the control

Summary

Introduction

Soil salinity is one of the most serious stress factors in the agriculture (Rains y Goyal, 2003), limiting growth and yield of many crops. Salinity has a two-fold effect on plants: the salt in the soil solution decreases the availability of water to the roots, and the salt taken up by the plant can be accumulated up to toxic levels in certain tissues. Both factors affect growth (Munns et al, 1995). Due to growth reduction in leaves and roots, the salts in soil solution decrease stomatal conductance and, photosynthesis (Munns, 1993)

Objectives

Methods

Results