Effect of <i>Rhizophagus irregularis</i> on Growth and Quality of <i>Cannabis sativa</i> Seedlings
2021
Ioanna Kakabouki | Antonios Mavroeidis | Alexandros Tataridas | Angeliki Kousta | Aspasia Efthimiadou | Stella Karydogianni | Nikolaos Katsenios | Ioannis Roussis | Panayiota Papastylianou
<i>Rhizophagus irregularis</i> is an arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus that can enhance plant nutrition and reduce transplant shock on seedlings. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of this fungus on the quality of cannabis (<i>Cannabis sativa</i> L.) seedlings. A greenhouse float system experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three treatments. The treatments included the application of 40, 80 and 120 fungus spores per L of nutrient solution (AMF1, AMF2 and AMF3, respectively). The evaluation was performed based on the agronomic characteristics of the seedlings (root and stem length and weight, stem diameter), N and P content, survival rate, and the Dickson’s quality index (DQI). Results indicated that root length and stem dry weight were significantly increased (by 34.14% and 21.4%, respectively) in the AMF3 treatment. The biomass of the seedlings’ roots, the fresh weight and the N content were not affected by the AMF. On the contrary, survival rate, P content and DQI were significantly increased in AMF3 (by 5%, 24.3% and 12.4% respectively). Overall, our findings suggest that the application of high doses of <i>Rhizophagus irregularis</i> (AMF3) on float system-produced cannabis seedlings results in a considerable increment of their quality.
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