Growth, gas exchange, and nutrient status in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) grown in recirculating nutrient solution as affected by salinity imposed to half of the root system

Pepper plants grown in recirculating nutrient solution were exposed to NaCl-salinity (60 mM NaCl, 8 dS m−1) imposed either to the entire or to half of the root system and compared to plants supplied with a standard nutrient solution (1.9 dS m−1). The saline solution was obtained by adding NaCl to the standard nutrient solution. In the split-root treatment, the root compartment not exposed to salinity was supplied with raw water (0.38 dS m−1). Both the stem and the root dry weights were markedly restricted by salinity, irrespective of salinizing half or the entire root system. In the split-root treatment, the dry weight of the root compartment receiving raw water did not differ significantly from that exposed to salinity. The net photosynthesis and the leaf chlorophyll content were restricted by both salinity treatments, but the decrease was more marked when the entire root system was exposed to salinity. In contrast, the stomatal conductance and the transpiration rate were equally reduced, regardless of salinizing the entire or part of the root system. The leaf Na and Cl concentrations were raised by the NaCl-salinity, but only in one sampling date the increase was significantly higher when the entire root zone was exposed to salinity, as compared with salinization of half of the root system. Salinity reduced significantly the leaf K, Ca, and Mg uptake but not to levels that could cause nutrient deficiencies. These results indicate that pepper is susceptible to high salinity, predominantly due to reduced stomatal conductance. However, after long-term exposure to salinity the growth may be suppressed due also to inhibition of photosynthesis at chloroplast level. The adverse effects of high NaCl-salinity are hardly mitigated when only a part of the root system is salinized, which indicates that the response is governed by root exposure to high NaCl concentrations and not by inefficiency of the roots to take up water.