Ornamental plants
Sajjad Heidari; Saeid Reezi; Seyyed Najmodin Mortazavi; Ali Nikbakht
Abstract
Introduction: Lily (Lilium spp.) is one of the most beautiful and popular ornamental bulbous plants that belongs to the Liliaceae family. Lilies (Lilium spp.) belong to one of the six more important genera of bulbous flowers, which is the fourth most famous plant in the world after Rose, Dianthus, and ...
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Introduction: Lily (Lilium spp.) is one of the most beautiful and popular ornamental bulbous plants that belongs to the Liliaceae family. Lilies (Lilium spp.) belong to one of the six more important genera of bulbous flowers, which is the fourth most famous plant in the world after Rose, Dianthus, and Chrysanthemum. The genus Lilium comprises more than 100 species, which are mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere. These species are taxonomically divided into seven sections, including Martagon, Pseudolirium, Lilium, Archelirion, Sinomartagon, Leucolirion, and Oxypetalum. It has been suggested that early removal of Lily buds should enhance Lily bulb yield. Disbudding improves the process of bulb development through its influence on the accumulation and transport of carbohydrates in Lily bulbs. In several studies, the effect of bud removal on vegetative characteristics and propagation of Lily bulbs including cut flower length, leaf area, size and weight of the bulb, number, and size of bulbs, number, and size of scales have been reported. With considering the importance of Lily bulb production in the country and the lack of current research on new Lilium hybrids, including various Oriental and OT hybrids, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of cultivar and disbudding on the vegetative characteristics of Lily flowers and its effect on production and multiplication of Lily. Materials and Methods: To study the effect of cultivar and disbudding on the growth and bulb production of Lily, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with two cultivars (the Tiber and Donato), and three disbudding items (D0= No disbudding, D1= Disbudding at the stage of bud appearance, and D3= Disbudding at the stage of 3 cm bud length) was conducted in three replications. This research was carried out in hydroponic greenhouses in Dehaghan city, Isfahan province, in an area with a longitude of 51˚, 61´ E, 31˚, 96´ N, and 2004 m mean above sea level. Temperature, humidity, and light intensity inside the greenhouse during the growing period was 15-25 ℃, 50-70 percent, and 20-30 kilolux, respectively. Evaluated characteristics included the plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, number of buds, bulb weight, number of the scale, scale size, number of bulblets, and propagation coefficient. Results and Discussion: The results showed that cultivar and disbudding (Except stem diameter) significantly affect all evaluated traits, while their interaction had a significant impact on bulb weight, bulblet number, propagation coefficient, bulb size, and scale size. In the Donato cultivar, plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, bulb weight, bulb size, scale size, number of bulbs, and propagation coefficient were 32.9%, 6.9%, 35.3%, 40.9%, 14.2%, 70.1%, 77.9%, and 8.2%, respectively higher than Tiber cultivar, while in the Tiber cultivar, the number of leaves and number of scales was 12.5% and 54.9%, respectively higher than the Donato cultivar. The highest plant height and leaf area were observed in non-disbudding treatment. However, the shortest stem and the smallest leaf were observed in disbudding at the stage of bud appearance and disbudding at the stage of 3 cm bud length which was 10.1% and 9.4%, respectively less than the non-disbudding treatment. By disbudding at the stage of bud appearance, the maximum number of scales, the heaviest bulb, the largest bulb, and the maximum scale size was measured that increased by 11.3%, 91.2%, 23.3%, and 39.2%, respectively compared to the non-disbudding treatment, while the lowest value of mentioned traits was recorded with non-disbudding treatment. By applying bud removal treatments up to the third level, the number of leaves, the number of bulbs, and propagation coefficient increased by 2.7%, 37.0%, and 3.6%, respectively, compared to the non-disbudding treatment, although there was no statistically significant difference between disbudding at the stage of 3 cm and disbudding at the stage of bud appearance. On the other hand, the lowest value of these traits occurred in the non-disbudding treatment. In the Tiber cultivar, the highest bulb weight, bulb size, and scale size were obtained by disbudding at the stage of bud appearance, which showed an increase of 93.5%, 24.0%, and 53.9%, respectively, compared to the non-disbudding treatment. Furthermore, in the Donato cultivar, disbudding at the stage of bud appearance significantly increased bulb weight, bulb size, and scale size by 89.4%, 22.8%, and 31.5%, respectively, compared to the non-disbudding. Also, the highest bulblet number and propagation coefficient in this cultivar were obtained by disbudding at the stage of 3 cm bud length, which increased 58.3% and 0.7%, respectively compared to the non-disbudding treatment. Conclusion: In general, it can be concluded that the Donato cultivar has a significant advantage in most of the evaluated traits over the Tiber cultivar, which can be attributed to the genetic distance between different Oriental and OT hybrids. Disbudding at the stage of bud appearance, if the end of the branch is not damaged, was the most appropriate treatment for replanting, production, and propagating of Lily bulb.
Mohammad Hossein Sheikh Mohammadi; Nematollah Etemadi; Ali Nikbakht; Mostafa Arab; Mohammad Mehdi Majidi
Abstract
Introduction: Drought and salinity are the most detrimental abiotic stresses for turfgrass growth across a wide range of geographic locations. Most cool season grass species are not well adapted to extended periods of drought and salinity stress. The decline in turf quality caused by drought and salinity ...
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Introduction: Drought and salinity are the most detrimental abiotic stresses for turfgrass growth across a wide range of geographic locations. Most cool season grass species are not well adapted to extended periods of drought and salinity stress. The decline in turf quality caused by drought and salinity stresses is a major concern in turfgrass cultivation and management. Therefore, developing management practices for improving drought and salinity resistance of turfgrasses has become imperative in arid and semiarid regions. Grass genotypes differ in their responses to drought and salinity stresses, which involve changes in morphological and physiological aspects. Understanding of relative involvement of each morphological and physiological characteristic in drought and salinity tolerance is important in selecting grass genotypes to facilitate breeding of drought and salinity-tolerant genotypes. The purposes of this research were to make selections of genotypes tolerant to drought and salinity stress for turfgrass management program.
Materials and Methods: To study some morphological and physiological responses of six Iranian crested wheatgrasses (Agropyron cristatum L.) under drought and salinity, an experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of College of Abureyhan, University of Tehran, Iran. Six Iranian Agropyron cristatum genotypes were collected from six locations in Iran. Agropyron cristatum genotypes were planted in polyvinyl chloride tubes and kept in the greenhouse. Pots were filled with sandy loam soil which had been sterilized in an oven at 160ºC for 6 h. Irrigation was applied as needed to prevent any visible stress during grass establishment. Grasses were watered three times weekly to maintain plants under well-watered conditions and soil moisture at field capacity. The experiment consisted of three treatments: 1) well-watered plants were irrigated three times per week with distilled water (control), 2) Drought stress was imposed by withholding irrigation for 45 days (drought stress), and 3) plants were irrigated daily with 100 mL of 9 dS.m–1 NaCl solution (salinity stress). To avoid primary salinity shock, the soil in each pot was drenched with 100 mL NaCl solution at incremental electrical conductivity (EC) by 3 dS.m–1 per day until the final EC reached 9 dS.m–1. Data were subjected to analysis based on a split-plot design with water treatments as main-plots and genotypes as sub-plots. Irrigation treatment as the main factor in three levels (control, drought, and salinity) and crested wheatgrass at six levels were considered as sub-plots. Studied characteristics such as height, turf quality, chlorophyll content, soluble carbohydrates, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, root penetration, and effective root depth were recorded. Statistical significance was tested using the analysis of variance procedure in SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Differences between the means were determined using the Fisher’s protected LSD test at the 5% probability level.
Results and Discussion: The results of this study showed that drought and salinity stress decreased the quality of crested wheatgrass masses, and reduced the level of quality varied among the masses. Throughout the experiment, ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Damavand’ under drought conditions and ‘Sabzevar’, ‘Arak’ and ‘Damavand’ under salinity conditions maintained higher Turf quality compared with other genotypes. Total chlorophyll content of ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Damavand’ were higher than other genotypes under drought and salinity conditions. The maintenance of higher chlorophyll content has been associated with better drought and salinity tolerance in plant. The soluble sugar content of ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Damavand’ under drought conditions and ‘Sabzevar’, ‘Arak’ and ‘Damavand’ under salinity conditions were higher than other genotypes during the experiment. Soluble sugar content is an important compatible osmolyte in plants. Increased accumulation of soluble sugar content in stressed plants may be an adaptation process and resistance strategy to abiotic stresses in plants. Throughout the experiment, ‘AEKQI’, ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Damavand’ genotypes under drought conditions and ‘Sabzevar’ genotypes under salinity conditions maintained higher relative water content in compared with other genotypes. Higher RWC indicates the ability of the leaf to maintain its higher water content under stress conditions with the simultaneous capability of the root system to take up adequate water. Based on morphological and physiological analysis for drought and salinity tolerance in investigated genotypes, the tolerance ranking would appear to be ‘Sabzevar’ > ‘Damavand’ > ‘Arak’ > ‘Urmia’ = Takestan > ‘Hashtgerd’ under drought stress and ‘Sabzevar’> ‘Arak’ > ‘Damavand’ > ‘Takestan’ = ‘Hashtgerd’> ‘Urmia’ under salinity stress. The results of this study showed that ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Damavand’ genotypes had good tolerance to drought stress, and ‘Sabzevar’ and ‘Arak’ genotypes had good tolerance to salt stress than other Iranian crested wheatgrass genotypes.
Mohammad Hossein Sheikh Mohammadi; Nematollah Etemadi; Ali Nikbakht
Abstract
Introduction: Drought is one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses for turfgrass growth across a wide range of geographic locations. Most cool-season grass species are not well adapted to extended periods of drought, particularly during summer months. Decline in turf quality caused by drought stress ...
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Introduction: Drought is one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses for turfgrass growth across a wide range of geographic locations. Most cool-season grass species are not well adapted to extended periods of drought, particularly during summer months. Decline in turf quality caused by drought stress is a major concern in turfgrass culture. Therefore, developing management practices for improving drought resistance of turfgrasses has become essential in arid and semi-arid regions, especially during water use restriction. One strategy to improve plant drought resistance is to promote drought avoidance by reducing water loss during drought, which may be achieved by slowing growth rate of shoots and lowering leaf area canopy to reduce demand for water. Application of growth regulators is one of the methods for increasing resistance of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. Trinexapac-ethyl (TE) is one of the most widely used PGRs in the management of cool-season and warm-season turfgrass species. TE absorbed quickly by foliage and slow cell elongation through inhibiting of converting one form of gibberellic acid (GA20) to another (GA1). Most studies conducted under non-stressed conditions found that TE application increased chlorophyll content, turf quality, turf density and reduced shoot extension rate. We hypothesized that TE may influence plant tolerance to drought stress. Limited available data─ as reported in the above referred studies─ suggest that TE application may be beneficial for plant tolerance to stresses, but the effectiveness varies with turfgrass species, dose and duration of TE treatment, and type of stress. The main aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of Trinexapac-ethyl on increased resistance to drought stress in wheatgrass.
Materials and Methods: Wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum L.) was used in this study. This study was conducted in field conditions at Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.. Wheatgrass native seeds (Agropyron desertorum L.), collected from the turfgrass research farm at Fereydan, Isfahan, which were cultivated hand broadcast in plots (3m × 2m) with seeding rates of 30 gm–2. A factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted for TE (Primo Maxx; Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., Greensboro, NC) and drought stress. Treatments involved three levels of Trinexapac-ethyl growth regulator (0, 0.25 and 0.5 kg/h) and two levels of drought stress (with irrigation and without irrigation). After planting, the plots were irrigated to maintain soil moisture at 80% field capacity or higher. Irrigation was applied as required to prevent any drought stress during grass establishment. Turfgrass species were maintained at cutting height of 4 cm and were mowed once a week using a reel-type mower. All data were subjected to analysis of variance using SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) and Fisher’s protected LSD test was employed at the 5% probability level..
Results Discussion: Results indicated that Trinexapac-ethyl and drought reduced growth, fresh weight and dried above ground organs significantly. Wheatgrass growth in concentrations 0.25 and 0.5 kg/h were 19.20 and 26.90%, respectively. Previous studies reported plants that have slow-growing shoots may survive more extended periods than faster-growing plants in drought conditions. Slow growth may reduce the adverse impact of drought by conserving water and carbon energy, and plants can use limited water to survive drought for an extended period of time. Unlike drought stress, Trinexapac-ethyl improved the quality of plant tissues and their color. Increase in turf quality under TE treatment might occur as a result of improved canopy photosynthesis capacity and single-leaf photochemical efficiency. Drought stress reduced relative water and chlorophyll content, increased proline level and finally led to electrolyte leakage. Trinexapac-ethyl improved wheatgrass in drought stress conditions by increasing relative water content, prolin, chlorophyll and decreasing electrolyte leakage and increased wheatgrass to drought stress resistance. Proline acts as an osmotic regulator in cytoplasm and vacuoles, protects proteins against dehydration, adjusts osmosis; detoxify radical active oxygen species, keeping more stable antioxidant enzymes. Proline immediate increase under drought stress is associated with decreasing leaf water content, in turn, induced drought tolerance. Under drought stress conditions, penetration of root depth and effective root depth has been increased, while Trinexapac-ethyl did not affect root traits significantly. The results of the present study indicated that TE decreased damages on drought stress probably via improving turf quality, chlorophyll concentration, leaf water content, proline content and less electrolyte leakage in Wheatgrass.
Hamed Alipour; Ali Nikbakht; Nematollah Etemadi; Farshid Nourbakhsh; Farhad Rejali
Abstract
Introduction: Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses which significantly reduce yield and growth of most of plants. Plane tree is one of the important trees planted in the urban landscapes of Iran. One of the major limiting factors of landscapes development is providing water for ...
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Introduction: Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses which significantly reduce yield and growth of most of plants. Plane tree is one of the important trees planted in the urban landscapes of Iran. One of the major limiting factors of landscapes development is providing water for plants. Deficit irrigation is a desirable method for saving water use in water deficit conditions and ultimately reducing necessary cost of water securement to landscape plants. Moreover, inoculation of plant root with mycorrhizal fungi can be considered as a method to reduce water demand of plants. In addition, mycorrhiza can increase plant resistance against environmental stress, such as salinity, temperature stress, drought stress and etc. Mycorrhiza can improve drought stress through enhancing water uptake as result of extra radical hyphae and stomatal regulation or transpiration. Increasing P concentration by mycorrhiza inoculation can be another mechansim for drought resistance in plants. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate two Glomus species in combination together on plane tree under water deficit for growth characteristics and nutrients uptake such as P, Fe and Zn concentration.
Materials and Methods: This outdoor experiment was conducted at - Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, with average temperature 14.2 ºC and 27.9 ºC night/day, respectively and relative humidity 35-70% between Mar and Aug 2012 and repeated under the same condition in 2013. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus on plane saplings response to different applicable water levels (50 and 100% of water needs) based on a completely randomized design with 3 replications. The treatments were control (without fertilizer), Germans peat + fertilizer, Germans peat + fertilizer + mycorrhiza in 50% of field capacity and Germans peat + fertilizer + mycorrhizain 100% of field capacity. The Mycorrhiza fungi (mycorrhizal root, soil containing spore and extra radical mycelium) were obtained from Institute of Soil and Water Research (Tehran, Iran). There were inoculums treatments: two AM fungus inoculums (G. intraradices and G. mosseae) with combination of both. The inoculated dosage was approximately 80 spores g-1 for G. intraradices and 80 spores g-1 for G. mosseae, calculated by microscope before the experiment. Plants were irrigated daily base of 100% FC after the confidence of establishing plants about 2 months and then differential irrigations were applied. The amount of 100 and 50% ET was applied for full irrigation, moderate and serve deficit irrigation, respectively. To monitor the soil water content, tensiometry probe tubes were inserted into the soil in control pot around the root. Irrigation was performed whenever 40% of the available water was consumed. In order to calculate the amount of water necessary to bring each soil to FC, soil samples were collected and the water content determined by drying. Photosynthesis rate was measured with a LCI portable photosynthesis system. Soluble sugars measured according to Phenol–Sulfuric Acid method. Extraction of the Leaf chlorophyll pigments using with 100% acetone. The extraction of P, K, Fe, and Zn from the plant tissue material was performed by using dry ashing method. The mean data of two years were analyzed with SAS 9.1 software, the means were compared for significance by the least significant difference (LSD) test at P < 0.05.
Results and Discussion: Mycorrhiza inoculation significantly increased fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll content, total sugar, leaf area, photosynthesis rate and P and K concentration as compared to control. As compared to the 100 and 50% FC, total chlorophyll, fresh and dry weight and P concentration significantly was increased in 100% FC (Table 4 & 5). The results showed that inoculation of plants with mycorrhizal fungus significantly increased most growth parameters including leaf area, chlorophyll content and leaf fresh and dry weight of plane saplings. Phosphorus content significantly increased in inoculated plants as compared to non-inoculated plants. It is recommended that in dry regions and water shortage conditions, the deficit irrigation method accompanied with mycorrhizal fungus inoculation to save water.
Conclusion: Our data showed that mycorrhiza inoculations increased most growth parameters including leaf area, chlorophyll content and leaf fresh and dry weight of plane saplings. In conclusion, mycorrhiza inoculations can increase plant tolerance against drought stress by increasing phosphorus concentration, chlorophyll content, and photosynthesis rate. Generally, results of this study revealed that inoculation of plane tress with mycorrhizal fungi, improved plant growth under stress conditions through its positive influence on nutrients uptake, chlorophyll content and other growth parameters.
Vahid Rouhi; Ali Nikbakht; Sadollah Hooshmand
Abstract
Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) belong to Punicaceae family is native to Iran and grown extensively in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. Pomegranate is also important in human medicine and its components have a wide range of clinical applications. Cracking causes a major fruit loss, ...
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Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) belong to Punicaceae family is native to Iran and grown extensively in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. Pomegranate is also important in human medicine and its components have a wide range of clinical applications. Cracking causes a major fruit loss, which is a serious commercial loss to farmers. Fruit cracking, seems to be a problem that lessens the marketability to a great extent. Fruit cracking is one of the physiological disorders wherever pomegranate trees are grown. It may be due to moisture imbalances as this fruit is very sensitive to variation in soil moisture prolonged drought causes hardening of skin and if this is followed by heavy irrigation the pulp grows then skin grows and cracks. Many factors i.e., climate, soil and irrigation, varieties, pruning, insects and nutrition statues influence the growth and production of fruit trees. Deficiencies of various nutrients are related to soil types, plants and even to various cultivars. Most nutrients are readily fixed in soil having different PH. Plant roots are unable to absorb these nutrients adequately from the dry topsoil. Foliar fertilization is particularly useful under conditions where the absorption of nutrients through the soil and this difficult situation to be present in the nutrients such as calcium. Since the calcium element is needed, so spraying them at the right time is correct way to save the plant requirements. Therefore, a research conducted on effect of sodium chloride concentrations and its foliar application time on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.) CV. “Malas Saveh”.
Materials and Methods: An experiment conducted at Jarghoyeh, Esfahan, Iran in 2012. The factors were Sodium chloride (0, 5 and 10 g/L) and times of spray (15, 45 and 75 days before harvest). The study was factorial experiment in the base of randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The measured traits were cracking and sun scald percentage, seed dry and fresh weight, total fruit weight, vitamin C and titratable acidity (TA) using titration method, total soluble solids (TSS) using hand refractometer, skin fruit firmness using hand penetrometre, pH using pH meter and dry material. Data analyzed using SAS and MSTAT-C statistical program and means compared using an LSD test (p < 0.05).
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed that calcium chloride had significant effect on creaking percentage. Mean comparison was conducted using LSD range test (at 5% level). Sodium chloride decreased cracking percentage compared to control. Different stages of sodium chloride application show significant effect on cracking percentage. Sodium chloride decreased the cracking rate by increasing of its concentrations. Effect of calcium chloride was significant on sun scald. The lowest sun scald occurred inthe second time and the highest in the third time of calcium chloride spraying. The effects of sodium chloride at different stages and concentrations were significant on the total fruit weight and seed fresh weight. The highest total fruit weight and seed fresh weight obtained in the first time and the lowest in the third time of calcium chloride spraying. The effects of sodium chloride at different stages and concentrations were significant on the skin firmness. The highest skin firmness obtained in the third time of calcium chloride spraying and 10 sodium chloride concentrations and the lowest in the first time of calcium chloride spraying and control. The time of calcium chloride spraying had significant effect on total acidity, pH and vitamin C. The highest and lowest fruit total acidity and pH obtained in first and third time of calcium chloride spraying, respectively. However, the highest and lowest fruit vitamin C observed in third and first time of calcium chloride spraying, respectively. Fruits treated with Sodium chloride showed a reduction in vitamin C and fruit firmness, but increased total soluble solids (TSS). In fruit traits increased by higher sodium concentration and earlier spraying time. In addition, later spraying time increased fruit skin firmness conclusion sodium chloride decreased cracking and sun scald percentage Quantitative.
Conclusion: In conclusion, higher sodium chloride concentration reduced fruit creaking and sun scald. In addition, earlier time and higher sodium chloride concentration caused improve quantitative fruit traits. Finally, skin firmness increased with higher sodium chloride concentration and later spraying time.
Majid Amani Beni; Abdollah Hatamzadeh; Ali Nikbakht; Mahmood Ghasemnejad; Sara Nikkhah Bahrami; Sohrab Davarpanah
Abstract
Tuberose flower (Polianthes tuberosa L.) is an important commercial cut flower in the world, however the short vase life is one of its major problems. So, an experiment was carried out by using five different levels of humic acid (HA) mixed with sucrose and seven different levels of silver nanoparticles ...
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Tuberose flower (Polianthes tuberosa L.) is an important commercial cut flower in the world, however the short vase life is one of its major problems. So, an experiment was carried out by using five different levels of humic acid (HA) mixed with sucrose and seven different levels of silver nanoparticles (SNP) mixed with sucrose in vase solution on tuberose cut flowers cv." Single". The results indicated that there were significant differences between treatments. The decline of fresh weight in flowers treated with 25, 50 and 75 mg L-1 HA was fewer compared to other levels. Also, the effect of HA on vase life and water uptake index was significantly higher in 25 mg L-1 HA (2.25 days more than control). SNP treatments increased the water uptake, fresh weight, total protein and declined lipid peroxidation amount compared to the control flowers. The results also showed that flowers which were treated with 1 mg L-1 SNP had 2.87 days vase life more than the control flowers. To sum up it can be demonstrated that suitable levels of HA and SNP improved better morphological and physiological properties and eventually increases the vase life of cut tuberose flowers.
