S ALINITY is one of the serious abiotic stresses adversely affecting the productivity of most crops. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and salicylic acid treatments are known to ameliorate salinity stress, but their combined effect has never been examined on watermelon. Therefore, to investigate the synergetic effects of them on vegetative growth, nutrient content, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and fruit yield and quality of watermelon cv. Aswan F1 grown under saline water conditions, a split split-plot design with three replications was conducted in the North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, during the two successive growing seasons of 2020 and 2021. The main factor included irrigation water salinity regimes at three levels: 1600, 4000 and 5000 ppm. Subfactors included arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at two levels (noninoculated and inoculated), and salicylic acid foliar spraying at four concentrations (0, 1, 2 and 4 mM) in subplots. The results revealed that saline water increasing led to evident reductions in vegetative growth parameters and fruit yield. Mycorrhizal inoculation or foliar application of salicylic acid improved the growth and productivity of watermelon plants under salinity conditions by maintaining a higher leaf relative water content and membrane stability index, enhancing chlorophyll content, and inducing the accumulation of proline and the activity of antioxidant enzymes. In addition, this study affirmed the synergistic effects of mycorrhizal inoculation and salicylic acid spraying on ameliorating the deleterious effects of saline-water irrigation on the growth and productivity of watermelon plants via generating simulative impacts on all physiological and biochemical attributes.
The influences of grafting treatments (6001 and Star rootstocks in addition to, check nongrafted transplants) and some foliar spray treatments (potassium silicate at rate 4 and 5 ml/L, calcium at rate 1 and 2 ml/L and check) on growth, yield and fruit quality of watermelon cv. Aswan F1 were investigated. The experiment was conducted in Baloza Research Station, Desert Research Center, at North Sinai Governorate during the two successive growing seasons of 2016 and 2017. The results indicated that plants sprayed with potassium silicate at a rate 5 ml/L or grafted onto Star rootstock recorded the highest significant values on transplant stand (success) percentage, vegetative growth characteristics (plant length, fresh and dry weight), yield and its components (fruit weight, fruit size, rind and flesh thickness and total yield), while the lowest values were observed in check nongrafted plants. Meanwhile, grafting had reducing effect on fruit quality, where the highest values of total soluble solids and total sugars were found in the fruits of nongrafted plants. The application of 5 ml/L potassium silicate gave the best significant values of TSS and total sugars compared with check treatment during the two studied seasons.
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