Response of Potted Hebe andersonii to Salinity under an Efficient Irrigation Management

Abstract

Although the use of marginal-quality water can be an effective measure to alleviate water scarcity, it often contains a high concentration of salts that can compromise crop growth. As a result, farmers apply more water than necessary to leach salts away from the root zone, resulting in wasted water and the release of fertilizers into the groundwater. In this study, we assessed the effects of three salinity levels of irrigation water (1.8 dS m−1, 3.3 dS m−1, and 4.9 dS m−1) on the physiology and ornamental traits of Hebe andersonii cv. Variegata. The experiment was carried out with potted plants in a greenhouse for seven months. We also studied the feasibility of growing this cultivar without leaching salts. The results showed that Hebe plants can be grown without leaching using water up to 3 dS m−1. This setup produces plants with high water use efficiency and without reducing their ornamental value. Meanwhile, irrigation with 5 dS m−1 water reduced the quality of Hebe but did not compromise its physiological processes. The photosynthesis of Hebe under salinity conditions was mainly controlled by stomata, which was related to the level of salt stress and water status of the plant. Salinity had no significant effects on photosystem II, which can be explained by the fact that Hebe was able to dissipate the excess excitation energy as heat effectively. Hebe was able to avoid ion toxicity and maintain a suitable nutrient balance under the salinity levels tested in this experiment.

Systematic assessment of salt tolerance based on morpho-physiological traits and genes related in inbred rice lines at the seedling stage

“…Saline soil has an EC of saturated paste extract >4 dS.m -1 , equivalent to 40 mmol of salt per liter. Growth and yield of cultivated plants are generally reduced at soil ECs of 4 dS.m -1 or more; even sensitive plants can be adversely affected at ECs of 3 dS.m -1 (Bañón et al 2022;Melo et al 2023).…”