Abstract
HIGHLIGHTS Growth and leaf area of mini watermelon in hydroponic cultivation are reduced at electrical conductivity above 4.00 dS m-1. Electrical conductivity of up to 6.90 dS m-1 does not reduce the net photosynthesis of mini watermelon in hydroponic cultivation. Coconut fiber is the best hydroponic substrate for mini watermelon.
Highlights
Brazil is a privileged country with regard to the availability of low-salinity water, since it has 12% of the total found in the world
Plant height (PH), Stem diameter (SD), Number of leaves (NL) and Leaf area (LA) were reduced by 32.63, 1.85, 17.80 and 42.68%, respectively, when mini watermelon plants were cultivated under M5 (40% tap water (TW) + 60% RB) in the nutrient solution, compared to the control (M1 = 100% TW) (Table 2)
Using the mixture of reject brine and tap water with electrical conductivity above 4.00 dS m-1 in the preparation of the nutrient solution applied in the study greatly reduces the growth of ‘Sugar Baby’ mini watermelon plants
Summary
Brazil is a privileged country with regard to the availability of low-salinity water, since it has 12% of the total found in the world. In order to increase water availability to the northeast region, one of the strategies is to desalinate brackish groundwater, which can be a concrete tool of regional development in the Brazilian semi-arid region. A negative point of reverse osmosis desalination is the fact that, in order to generate drinking water, this process necessarily generates a highly brackish water, called brine or reject brine (Antas et al, 2019). One of the alternatives for disposing of reject brine would be its use as a component of nutrient solutions in hydroponic cultivation in protected environments. Hydroponic cultivation in inert substrates can increase water and nutrient use efficiency, and the absence of matric potential minimizes salinity effects on plants (Oliveira et al, 2016; 2018). Salt stress in these systems reduces growth, gas exchange and photochemical efficiency of plants (Sá et al, 2018)
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