The effect of saline solutions on the root length of cucumber seedlings

Relevance. Cucumber plants are very sensitive to high salt content in the soil, which poses a serious threat to industrial production of cucumbers, as it negatively effects the normal growth and develop­ment of plants and, consequently, productivity and commercial yields.

Methods. This article presents the results of evaluating the effect of saline solutions (NaCl, Na2SO4, NaHCO3) on the root length of cucumber seedlings (Cucumis sativus L.). The research was conduct­ed at All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Growing branch of the FSBSI "Federal Scientific Vegetable Center", and the Agrofirm Poisk (Vereya village, Ramenskoye District, Moscow Region, Russian Federation). The experiment was carried out four times in the laboratory. Three types of saline solution (sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)) were used at six concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 mmol/l) and distilled water (H2Odist.) as a control to assess the effect on the root length of cucumber seedlings.

Results. The experiment showed that the toxic effects of sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and sodium bicar­bonate (NaHCO3) solutions on the root length of cucumber seedlings are similar to those of sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. It was noted that a concentration of 200 mmol/l, regardless of the type of saline solution, has a negative effect on seed germination and leads to the death of cucumber seedlings. As a result of the correlation analysis, stable direct positive relationships were estab­lished between the root length of cucumber seedlings and the type of saline solution (sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), sodium chloride (NaCl), and sodium hydrocarbonate (NaHCO3)), with a correlation coeffi­cient (r) greater than 0,90. A two-factorial analysis of variance showed that it is possible to equally use sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) solutions to evaluate the salt tolerance of cucumber plants.

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