The trace elements influence on the tomato plants heat resistance in arid climate

Abstract

In the arid conditions of the Astrakhan region agricultural plants heat resistance is one of the important criteria of quality production getting. In this regard, and also taking into consideration the fact that the soils of our region are characterized by a very low content of trace elements in the form accessible to plants, researches were carried out to study the effect of trace elements of copper, manganese and zinc for tomato plants heat resistance. To exclude the trace elements rapid absorption by the soil, plants foliar treatments were used during the growing season with 0.05% solutions of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4), manganese sulfate (MnSO4) and copper sulfate (CuSO4). In the control variant, the plants were sprayed with water. The results showed that tomato plants foliar feeding during the III-V organogenesis stages with 0.05% solutions of zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate and copper sulfate have not got a significant effect on tomatoes growth and productivity. However, the zinc and copper trace elements positively influenced such physiological parameters of plants as the leaf cells hydration, the bound water content in them, the protoplasm viscosity, thereby contributing to the increase in tomato resistance to the adverse effects of high temperatures in the arid climate.