Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different salinity levels, (0.7, 4.0, 8.0, 12.0, 16.0 dS m-1 ) on some physiological parameters of Obez F1, Ferro F1, RS841 F1, which are used as rootstocks in watermelon cultivation. Salty irrigation water was obtained through mixing of NaCl and CaCl2 salt into tap water. When the plants were at the 3-4 leaf stage, different salinity levels were applied. Plants were harvested during the phase of florescence. The study was carried out using split plots in randomized complete block design while rootstocks are main plot, salinity levels are sub-plot with three replications. While the salinity level was increasing, the physiological parameters decreased in each three rootstocks. While the plant height changed between 14.4-107.1 cm, the plant leaf area varied between 152.0-2182.7 cm2 . Chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b and total carotenoid values decreased as the salinity level increased. Excluding the maximum value obtained from control plot, the highest chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, and total carotenoid values were obtained in Obez variety under 4.0 dS m-1 application with 14.8 mg l -1 , 12.8 mg l -1 and 0.28 mg g-1 fw, respectively.

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