ISHS Acta Horticulturae 323: Symposium on Soil and Soilless Media under Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates
SALINITY STRESS ALTERS THE VEGETATIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE GROWTH OF CUCUMBER PLANTS. |
| Authors: | A.M. Abd-Alla, R.A. Jones, A.F. Abou-Hadid |
| Abstract:
Thirty-day-old seedlings of cucumber (cv. Beta-alpha) were transplanted into five liter pots containing acid-washed sand. An automatic drip system irrigated the seedlings twice daily with a complete nutrient solution from 150L reservoirs. The nutrient solution was amended with NaCl in a stepwise fashion to final treatment levels of 0, 40, 60 and 80 mM NaCl in the presence and absence of CaCl2 (0 and 10 mM). The seedlings were grown under glasshouse conditions and the growth and reproductive behavior of the plants were quantified. Plant growth parameters examined included plant height, leaf number and area, fresh and dry weights. Increasing salinity levels progressively decreased all growth parameters. The addition of CaCl2 partially offset the deleterious effects, but at the highest NaCl level (80mM) growth was depressed to a greater extent when CaCl2 was present. Similar responses were observed on reproductive parameters. Fruit growth, fruit numbers and seed yields per plant decreased with increasing salinity. These results will be discussed in relation to changes in stress ethylene production, alterations in free amino acid pools and tissue ion accumulation patterns. | |
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