| Author(s) | Ansary E. Moftah and Abdulrahman I. Al-Humaid |
| Affiliation | College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia E-mail: ansary80@yahoo.com |
| Title | Effects of Kaolin and Pinolene Film-forming Polymers on |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Agricultural Sciences. Volume 18, No 1. (2006/1426) |
| Abstract | The effects of pinolene-base Vapor Gard (VG) emulsion type film and Kaolin (Surround WP) particle type film antitranspirants on stomatal behavior, water status, carbon assimilation and transpiration rate of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cv. double plants grown under the irrigation regimes of 100, 80 and 60% of total evapotranspiration (ET) values were investigated to select the most suitable antitranspirant for conserving irrigation water, less detrimental effects on growth and production of tuberose plants grown in Al-Qassim region. Severe water stress, decreased stomatal frequency and conductance (gs), leaf water potential (Ψw), osmotic potential (Ψπ), turgor potential (Ψp), relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content (chl), carbon assimilation rate (A) and the transpiration rate (E). Both types of antitranspirants effectively enhanced the performance and physiological activities of water-stressed plants particularly, at the 80% ET, but they did not compensate for the negative effects caused by the 60% ET treatment. However, the particle type (Kaolin) was more effective than the emulsion type (VG) due to its ability to reduce leaf temperature. The increased gs caused by VG and Kaolin sprays were accompanied by increased A suggesting that gs might have a limiting effect on A in water-stressed plants. Water use efficiency (WUE) of Kaolin–sprayed leaves was significantly higher than that of VG–sprayed leaves. However, no significant differences between both antitranspirants on E were recorded. Increased WUE, therefore, could be attributed to a higher A by using Kaolin as compared with VG sprays. Thus, particle type antitranspirants are more effective in regulating water status, WUE and the photosynthetic activity of tuberose plants in Al-Qassim regions, Saudi Arabia. Keywords: Tuberose, Water stress, Antitranspirant, Photosynthesis, Water relations. |
