STUDY THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT CULTURE MEDIA ON GERMINATION, MORPHOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM L.)
The current study was aimed to investigate the effects of cocopeat, nipeat and perlite substrates on morphological, physiological and photosynthetic traits of tomato seedlings in a randomized complete block design. For this purpose, after preparing the seeds, they were sown in planting trays containing aforementioned substrates in different proportions. Seed germination percentage and rate were calculated and after the seedlings reached the stage of transfer to the field, morphological traits such as root length, stem diameter, stem length, number of leaves, stem fresh and dry weights, fresh and dry root weight as well as physiological parameters including chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoids, the activities of antioxidant enzymes catalase, polyphenol oxidase and superoxide dismutase, and proline content and relative water content of leaves were measured. Also, photosynthetic performance parameters were calculated by fluorcam device. The results showed that 100% cocopeat substrate in tomato seedling cultivation leads to the highest vegetative yield of seedlings. However, when perlite was added to the culture medium, a decrease in the studied traits was observed. When cocopeat medium was used, the highest content of chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoids and relative water content of leaf and the lowest amount of proline were reported. The application of perlite in the tomato seedling culture medium was lead to the decrease in photosynthetic yield indices. Therefore, according to the results obtained in the present study, it can be stated that the use of 100%cocopeat can lead to better growth of tomato seedlings.
Cocopeat, Nipeat, Perlite, Substrate, Seedling.