Growth, Spectral Vegetation Indices, and Nutritional Performance of Watermelon Seedlings Subjected to Increasing Salinity Levels
2025
Alfonso Llanderal | Gabriela Vasquez Muñoz | Malena Suleika Pincay-Solorzano | Stanislaus Antony Ceasar | Pedro García-Caparros
The production of high-quality horticultural seedlings is essential for successful field transplantation. Nevertheless, increasing soil salinization poses a significant challenge, particularly in salt-affected regions. Watermelon seedlings were cultivated in pots with a substrate (mixture of ground blonde peat (60%), black peat (30%), and perlite (10%) with pH 5.5–6.0) within a bamboo nethouse and subjected to varying salinity levels, i.e., 2–8 dS m<sup>−1</sup> (T1, T2, T3, and T4). At the end of the experimental period (4 weeks), the growth parameters, spectral vegetation indices, and chemical parameters of the sap and leachate were evaluated. The results demonstrated that increased salinity levels reduced the biomass of watermelon seedlings. In addition, elevated salinity levels were associated with increased values of B (48%) and NBI (46%) and decreased values of G (9%) and NGI (7%) at the end of the experimental period. The effects of the salinity levels were also evident in the sap chemical parameters, with marked increases in Cl<sup>−</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, and Na<sup>+</sup> concentrations (9.6, 3.1, and 4.9 times, respectively) and decreases in the N-NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>, P, and K<sup>+</sup> concentrations (51, 8, and 25%, respectively). The leachate analysis reported clear increases in the values of EC and concentrations of Cl<sup>−</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, and Na<sup>+</sup> at the end of the experimental period. To validate the relevance of these findings, further research under field conditions and across a range of climatic environments is warranted.
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