Water stress in Pinus engelmannii Carr., under nursery conditions
Abstract
The effect of water stress was evaluated in relation to the water potential and growth of five-month old seedlings of Pinus engelmannii Carr. The essay was conducted from September 21st to October 27th, 2003; in this period of time three water stress cycles were completed. Significant differences between water supply treatments were found (p < 0.01) in regard to the seedlings water potential after the third day of watering. The seedlings under water stress reached final water potentials from –1,96 to –2,29 MPa, while the seedlings without water stress showed values between –0.13 and –0.20 MPa. The morphological response of the seedlings presented two well-defined trends. First, the seedlings irrigated without humidity restriction showed larger growth rates in height (20.7%), collar diameter (69.4%) and total phytomass production (144.1%). On the other hand, the seedlings under water stress showed smaller increments in height (1.3%), collar diameter (9.8%) and total phytomass (73.1%). It is concluded that the seedlings were sensible to the evaluated levels of water stress, therefore allowing management to promote their hardening. Key words: humidity deficit, seedlings quality, growth, preaconditioning phase.
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