Summary
The salt sensitivity of carnations, gerberas, anthuriums, chrysanthemums and hippeastrums was studied in an investigation. The crops were grown in basins filled with soil and irrigated with the aid of low level sprinklers. Two different cultivars of each crop were included in the experiments. The crops were irrigated with water containing different levels of salts. The EC of the irrigation water (ECw) ranged between 0.2 and 3.9 mS.cm−1 at 25°C.
The salt applications had a deleterious effect on the development of all the flower crops used in the investigation. Carnations and chrysanthemums proved to be the least sensitive. Gerberas and hippeastrums showed a medium sensitivity and anthuriums proved to be the most salt sensitive. The latter crop also showed a specific sensitivity to sodium chloride.
The salinity threshold values were low for most crops,i.e. ECw<0.6. Slightly higher values were found for carnations only. The salinity decrease values of ECw showed very wide variations and ranged from 6 to 34%. A method is proposed for the conversion of ECw values into EC values for the saturation extract (ECe) with the aid of the soil analytical results.
The results of tissue analyses showed that the sodium and chloride contents in particular were affected by the salt applications. The effects of the salt applications on the uptake of the major nutrient elements varied from crop to crop.
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Sonneveld, C., Voogt, W. Studies on the salt tolerance of some flower crops grown under glass. Plant Soil 74, 41–52 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178738
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178738