ISHS Acta Horticulturae 323: Symposium on Soil and Soilless Media under Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates
EFFECT OF SALT STRESS ON THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TOMATO PLANTS |
| Authors: | M.A. Atta-Aly, A.S. El-Beltagy, M.E. Saltveit |
| Abstract:
Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., cvs. 'Rutgers', an Egyptian salt tolerant cultivar 'Edkawy', and a ripening mutant rin were grown in sand cultures. Supplementing the nutrient solutions by which plants were irrigated with 0.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 g/l NaCl:CaCl2 (3:1, Wt/Wt) significantly decreased plant leaf water potentials (LWP) as salinity increased, with more pronounced decreases in young plants of Rutagers and rin than in Edkawy plants which maintained normal growth with minimal lowering of LWP during the first 9 d of saline treatment. Five weeks after saline treatment, Rutgers and rin had increased their LWP to that of Edkawy. Leaf Na+ content was significantly increased with low levels of saline treatment, but it did not show any further increase at higher saline levels. The Na+ content in rin was significantly lower than in the other two cultivars. At 7.5 g/l, the Na+ content in Rutgers dropped to the same level as in rin, while it remained stable in Edkawy. Leaf Cl content increased with salinity. LWP appeared to be more correlated with leaf Cl levels than with Na+ levels. Edkawy leaves had the highest Ca++ levels and percent leaf dry weight. These data strongly suggest that the salt tolerant cultivar Edkawy was able to absorb sufficient water to maintain growth with a minimum lowering of water potential during the early stages of growth, and by accumulating more Ca++ and Na+ than the less salt tolerant cultivars during the total period of growth | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
