EFFECTS OF NUTRIENTS AND SALT ON GROWTH OF ICE-PLANT (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) CULTIVATED BY NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) is a halophytic plant having high salinty tolerance, even using NaCl salt at 100 mM concentration to promote the plant growth. The plant is used as a valuable crop with different use purposes in food and medicine. The present study investigated effects of basic nutrients and salt on growth of the ice-plant cultivated by nutrient film technique, which would be useful to establish an effective platform for the ice-plant hydroponic production. Results showed that biomass of the ice-plant was higher in the nutrient of 1/2 Hoagland than that of 1/2 Murashig and Skoog-1962, or that of a commercial hydroponic solution of G9 Hydroponic. Salt addition with a gradual increase in conccentration, 50 mM NaCl at one week and 100 mM NaCl at two weeks after the onset of cultivation, enhanced better the growth than other additions. The nutrient containing 20-40% (v/v) seawater tended to reduce the fresh weigh of shoots, but the height and leave number was not decereased significantly. The results suggested that the 1/2 Hoagland nutrient supplied with salt could be used to hydroponically grown the ice-plant.