INFLUENCE OF FOLIAR TREATMENTS OF TOMATO PLANTS WITH MICROELEMENTS ON ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE INFESTATION

Abstract

Selenium (Se), silicon (Si) and nickel (Ni) are essential microelements in plants. Their deficiency can have a significant impact on the growth and development of plants, and on nematode infestation. The study of the possibility of regulating the interaction of plants with root-knot nematode by means of exogenous foliar treatments with solutions of nanosized Se, Si and Ni has been conducted. Susceptible tomato plants were treated in the seed phase and the growing plants were sprayed with aqueous solutions of nanosized microelements (Se – 0.6; Ni – 0.1; Si – 2 mg/l). The influence of treatments on the infestation of tomatoes by the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, as well as on the development of plants and the quantitative and qualitative composition of photosynthetic pigments, as the most sensitive indicator of the pathological state of plants, was studied. A decrease in the infestation of tomatoes with a nematode in the Se<Si<Ni series is shown. The treated plants were dominated by larvae. An increase in the entire pool of photosynthetic pigments or individual pigments was observed when treated with nanosized microelements. The greatest effect on the infestation of the root system, the development of nematodes and the content of photosynthetic pigments was obtained when plants were treated with nanosized nickel. It is obvious that these elements have an individual metabolic effect on plant tissues, but it is obvious that they have a beneficial effect on tomato plants, which allows us to consider them as inductors that increase resistance to root-knot nematode.