Effect of Different Salt Concentrations on Germination and Seedling Growth of DIchondra (Dichondra repens)

Abstract

This experiment was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University in 2012. As a material the seeds of dichondra (Dichondra repens) which is a green area plant were used and the study was performed as randomized plots design with three replications in both plastic Petri dishes and peat media. Distilled water was used to prepare different NaCl concentrations (control, 5000, 7500, 10000, 15000, 20000 and 25000 ppm). The results showed that, germination was not observed in 20000 and 25000 ppm concentrations, so these doses were excluded from this study. While increasing salinity levels delayed the first germination day (first emergence day in peat experiment), germination rate (emergence rate in peat experiment), root length, shoot length, root weight, shoot weight and root/shoot ratio (both length and weight) characteristics decreased with increasing NaCl concentrations. This study shows that, although some plant characteristics of dichondra is effected negatively by application of salinity levels, the plant has tolerance to a certain amount of salinity (approximately 5000-7500 ppm) in germination and seedling growth stage.