Title : Effect of drought stress on morpho-physiological responses of Petunia plants and selecting the best cultivar
Abstract:
Two cultivars of petunia were evaluated for drought tolerance in a pot trial. The drought intervals included (T0) one day interval (control), (T1) three-day interval, (T2) five-day interval, and (T3) seven-day interval. As a result of the treatment application, variation in the performance was exhibited as means values of the studied traits. The effect of all the treatments on the plant height of both cultivars was significant. When the plants were watered after a one-day gap, the plant height of both cultivars was at its peak. As the irrigation interval increased, the plant height gradually decreased. The Petunia grandiflora cultivar produced the highest plant height (43.0 cm), followed by the T1 treatment with the same cultivar. Overall, the plant height of the Petunia grandiflora variety greater compared to the Falcon F1 (white) cultivar for all treatments. The maximum root length, 6.2 cm, was produced by the Petunia grandiflora cultivar when the water was applied after a 1-day interval followed by the Falcon F1 (white) cultivar yielding a 5.6 cm root length. The treatments T1 and T2 yielded 5.5 cm and 5.0 cm for the variety Petunia grandiflora and 5.2 and 4.6(cm) for the variety Falcon F1(white). For all treatments, the variety Petunia grandiflora outperformed Falcon F1 (white) in terms of root dry weight. In addition, the cultivar Petunia grandiflora generated the highest root-shoot ratio for fresh weighti.e., 5.2, when water was provided after a 3-day gap and then the same cultivar was planted against the treatment T0. Treatments T2 and T3 yielded 4.9 and 4.7 for the variety Petunia grandiflora and 2.8 and 2.2 for the variety Falcon F1(white). A maximum chlorophyll concentration of 2.68mg g-1 was found by the cultivar Petunia grandiflora followed by the cultivar Falcon F1(white) for the same treatment. When water was administered after a one-day gap, the cultivar Petunia grandiflora generated the highest total chlorophyll levels (4.04 mg g-1), followed by the cultivar Falcon F1 (white), which produced total chlorophyll values of 3.42 mg g-1. This research is important to flower nurseries because most people like to purchase these flowers at the seedling stage instead of growing them from seeds.
What will the audience learn from your presentation?
- This research is important to flower nurseries because most people like to purchase these flowers at the seedling stage instead of growing them from seeds.
