Production and Physiological Quality of Seeds of Mini Watermelon Grown in Substrates with a Saline Nutrient Solution Prepared with Reject Brine

Abstract

The economically profitable production of crops is related, among other factors, to seed quality, the production system, and the water used in irrigation or preparation of nutrient solutions. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the phenology, production, and vigor of seeds of mini watermelons grown in saline nutrient solution and different substrates. In the fruit and seed production phase, the experiment occurred in a greenhouse with five electrical conductivities of water for nutrient solution preparation, ECw (0.5, 2.4, 4.0, 5.5, and 6.9 dS m−1), and two growing substrates (coconut fiber and sand). We evaluated the physiological quality of seeds previously produced under the five electrical conductivities of water and two substrates. High salinities for the hydroponic cultivation of the mini watermelon cultivar ‘Sugar Baby’ accelerated fruit maturation and crop cycle, decreasing fruit size. However, in both substrates, the seed production of mini watermelons, seed viability, and seed vigor occurred adequately with a reject brine of 6.9 dS m−1 in the hydroponic nutrient solution. The seed production of ‘Sugar Baby’ mini watermelons using reject brine in a hydroponic system with coconut fiber and sand substrates is viable in regions with water limitations.

Simulation of Daily Transpiration of Tomatoes Grown in Venlo-Type Greenhouse Substrates

“…The VC content increased first, and then decreased with the decreased irrigation amount (Tables 1-4), which is consistent with the results of previous studies [8,31,37]. However, compared with other studies in a nearby area [8,24,31], it was found that under the same irrigation conditions, the quality indices, such as the TSS, SAR, and SSC, of the tomatoes in this study were better than those of the -soil grown tomatoes, which is consistent with the results of several studies [38][39][40]. Due to the different effects of a water deficit on the different yield and quality indicators, the comprehensive evaluation of different irrigation amounts in this study was conducted by utilizing the TOPISIS method.…”