Abstract
A greenhouse study was conducted to assess the relative salt tolerance of 11 cultivars of hydrangea: Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Ayesha’, ‘Emotion’, ‘Mathilda Gutges’, ‘Merritt’s Supreme’ and ‘Passion’; H. paniculata ‘Interhydia’ and ‘Bulk’; H. quercifolia ‘Snowflake’; H. serrata ‘Preciosa’; and H. serrata × macrophylla ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Selina’. Plants were treated with a nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.0 dS·m−1, and nutrient solution-based saline solutions at an EC of 5.0 dS·m−1 (EC 5) or 10 dS·m−1 (EC 10). The study was repeated in time (Experiments 1 and 2). In both experiments, by the fourth week after treatment, ‘Bulk’ plants in EC 10 exhibited severe salt damage with most of them dead. ‘Interhydia’ was also sensitive, showing severe salt damage in EC 10 with a high mortality rate by the end of the experiment. The leaf area and total shoot dry weight (DW) of all cultivars in EC 5 and EC 10 treatments were significantly reduced compared to the control. Leaf sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) concentrations were negatively correlated with visual quality, leaf area and shoot DW. The salt-sensitive cultivars ‘Bulk’, ‘Interhydia’ and ‘Snowflake’ had inherently low leaf Na+ and Cl− concentrations in both control and salt-treated plants compared to other cultivars. Salt tolerance varied among species and cultivars within H. macrophylla. Among the 11 cultivars, H. macrophylla ‘Ayesha’ and two hybrids, ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Selina’, were relatively salt-tolerant. H. macrophylla ‘Merritt’s Supreme’ and ‘Mathilda’ were moderately tolerant. H. paniculata ‘Bulk’ was the most sensitive, followed by H. paniculata ‘Interhydia’, and then by H. serrata ‘Preciosa’ and H. macrophylla ‘Passion’, as evidenced by high mortality and severe salt damage symptoms. H. quercifolia ‘Snowflake’ and H. macrophylla ‘Emotion’ were moderately salt-sensitive.
Highlights
The availability of high-quality water for agriculture and landscape irrigation has decreased due to several reasons, including drought, increasing population, climate change and depletion of aquifers
The intense competition for high-quality water among agriculture, industry and other users is promoting the use of alternative water sources for irrigating crops such as nursery crops and landscapes [1,2,3,4], specialty medicinal plants [5], and food crops such as vegetables [6]
Until the start of the experiments, plants were irrigated with a water-soluble fertilizer solution (Peter’s 15-5-15 Ca-Mg Special; Scotts, Marysville, OH, USA) at a nitrogen concentration of 150 ppm (16 mM), an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.0 dS·m−1, and a pH of
Summary
The availability of high-quality water for agriculture and landscape irrigation has decreased due to several reasons, including drought, increasing population, climate change and depletion of aquifers. The intense competition for high-quality water among agriculture, industry and other users is promoting the use of alternative water sources for irrigating crops such as nursery crops and landscapes [1,2,3,4], specialty medicinal plants [5], and food crops such as vegetables [6]. The primary challenges of using water from these alternative sources are the high salt levels and undesirable specific ions, sodium (Na+ ) and chloride (Cl− ), which are ubiquitous in both soil and water and may be harmful to plant growth at elevated levels. The use of alternative water sources with high salinity exacerbates soil salinization
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