EFFECT OF IRRIGATION WITH SALINE WATER AND SOME NATURAL ACTIVATORS ON GROWTH AND QUALITY OF THUJA ORIENTALIS PLANTS

Abstract

Two independent pot experiments were conducted under the open field at the nursery of Hort. Res. Inst., ARC., Giza, Egypt during 2016 and 2017 seasons to study the effects of irrigating with saline water prepared from NaCl and CaCl2 pure salts (1:1, by weight) at the rates of 0, 1000, 3000 and 5000 ppm and spraying with some natural extracts i.e. Oligo-X (an algae extract containing immunity and internal resistant stimulants, as well as N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn and some growth regulators) at the concentrations of 0, 0.5 and 1.0 ml/l and green tea extract at the rates of 0, 0.5 and 1.0 ml/l, and their interaction on growth, quality and chemical composition of 6-months-old Thuja orientalis (Platycladus orientalis) transplants cultivated in 25-cm-diameter plastic pots filled with about 3.0 kg of pure sand and loam (1:1, v:v) when applied six times with one month interval during the growing seasons. The results in both seasons showed that all vegetative and root growth measurements were significantly improved by increasing the natural extract rate regardless of saline water concentration, but they were significantly decreased in response to all saline water treatments. A similar trend was also gained with regard to pigments contents (mg/l00 g f.w.), the percentage of total carbohydrates (%) but the percentage of proline content (mg/g d.w.) was reduced with raising natural extract, as was gradually increased with increasing salinity water. According to these results, it could be concluded that 6-months-old transplants of Thuja orientalis could be irrigated with saline water up to 5000 ppm, especially if it was sprayed with algae extract at 1.0 ml/l which greatly improved growth and chemical constituents under salinity stress.

Keywords

• thuja orientalis
• natural activators
• vegetative growth
• chemical composition
• saline water