Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an edible wild plant that is widely grown in the world, including Türkiye. Purslane plant, which is an important component of Mediterranean cuisine, can grow spontaneously in nature. Stress conditions can directly or indirectly affect its growth and development in the environment in which it is grown. In the current study, stress conditions of soil organic matter content, irrigation water amount and irrigation water salinity were investigated in pot experiments. The experiments were carried out in a 72 m2 greenhouse established on the Dokuz Eylül University Tınaztepe Campus. From the variables, soil organic matter was applied as 1%, 1.8% (control), 3% and 5% on a dry weight basis. 15 purslane seeds were planted in each pot and left to germinate. Irrigation water amounts were chosen as 100%, 75%, 50%, 30%, 15% of the field capacity. The last variable in the application was determined as the salinity of the irrigation water; the conductivity of the applied irrigation waters were control (tap water-about 0.5 mS/cm), 4 mS/cm, 8 mS/cm, 16 mS/cm. All pots were prepared in four repetitions and the study was carried out with a total of 320 pots. Experiments were carried out for 90 days from the first planting. In the study, it was observed that the increase in organic matter increased plant germination. Statistical evaluation was also made and the effects of irrigation water amount and salinity were also evaluated according to principal component analysis. As the field capacity decreased, decreases were observed in plant growth, but this was mostly observed at 30% and 15% field capacity. The negative effects of salinity on plant growth were observed at 8 mS/cm and 16 mS/cm values.

Organic matter (OM) content of the soils should be improved for sustainable productions. Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) is an organic material used in several countries to improve soil OM contents. This study was conducted to determine potential use of MSWC as soil amendment. Field experiments were conducted for two years with single MSWC treatments. Experiments were conducted on 18 plots in randomized complete blocks design with 3 replications. Six different MSWC doses (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 t ha-1) were applied to experimental plots. Compost doses were calculated in dry weight basis, applied to 21 m2 plots and sunflower was sown as the experimental plant of the study. Following the sunflower harvest, disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken from the experimental plots and soil samples were subjected to various analyses. Applied MSWC doses significantly increased soil OM contents, electrical conductivity (EC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC), aggregate stability (AS) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and reduced soil bulk density (BD). Effects of MSWC on soil pH were not found to be significant. Effects of MSWC treatments were more remarkable with increasing doses. MSWC treatments increased soil OM contents about 3 folds and increased CEC by about 25%. MSWC treatments significantly increased salt contents of the soils. Such increases were found to be significant at 1% level in the first year and 5% level in the second year. Increasing OM contents also increase soil aggregation, thus reduced bulk density and increased hydraulic conductivity. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between OM and AS. Present findings revealed that MSWC positively influenced physical and chemical characteristics of clay-loam soils of arid and arid climates, but salt contents should carefully be monitored in repetitive uses.