Effectiveness of different methods of salicylic acid application on growth characteristics of tomato seedlings under salinity

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 2 Leaf nutrient concentrations in tomato seedlings under salinity treatment and salicylic acid application methods

	Leaf Na (% DW)	Leaf K (% DW)	Leaf Ca (% DW)	leaf Zn (mg kg⁻¹ DW)	Leaf Fe (mg kg⁻¹ DW)
Control	0.073 ± 0.03c	2.2 ± 0.27a	1.5 ± 0.25a	46.5 ± 6.4a	78.3 ± 2.7a
Salinity	1.38 ± 0.21a	1.5 ± 0.25c	0.95 ± 0.21c	35.7 ± 3.8b	53.7 ± 5.5c
Salinity + root SA pretreatment	0.95 ± 0.26b	1.60 ± 0.29bc	1.3 ± 0.18ab	38 ± 3.6b	59.8 ± 4.1bc
Salinity + foliar SA pretreatment	0.9 ± 0.24b	2 ± 0.26ab	1.4 ± 0.08ab	42.8 ± 3.7ab	62.3 ± 6.6b
Salinity + foliar SA treatment	1.17 ± 0.17ab	1.5 ± 0.15c	1.2 ± 0.15bc	36.2 ± 3.8b	58.2 ± 5.4bc
ANOVA^a	F_4,15 = 0.99**	F_4,15 = 0.41**	F_4,15 = 0.17**	F_4,15 = 85.8*	F_4,15 = 350**

Salinity was applied at 100 mM NaCl in nutrient solution
Salicylic acid was applied with two sprays of 100 mg L⁻¹, as pretreatment or treatment
Root pretreatment was done once with 30 min immersing in 100 mg L⁻¹ salicylic acid
Comparison of means was done with Duncan’s multiple range test at 5% level
^aIndicating F values and corresponding P values in which *, ** and ns mean significant effect at 5%, 1% and not significant, respectively