Effects of stockosorb hydrogel and irrigation intervals on some soil physical properties and growth of haloxylon seedling

Using of soil conditioners is a method for retaining and storing the soil moisture in arid and semi arid areas. Application of hydrogels is a solution to increase irrigation efficiency in this area. Super absorbent polymers are conditioner’s group which can absorb precipitation or irrigation water and prevent from water percolation. A completely randomized design research with factorial arrangement and three replications was carried out to evaluate the effects of stockosorb hydrogel and irrigation intervals on growth of haloxylon seedlings in Hossain Abad Ghinab (Birjand, Iran). The experimental treatments consisted in different amounts of stockosorb hydrogel (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4%) and irrigation intervals (every day, every 3 days and every 5 days). The result showed that application of hydrogel had the positive and significant effect on growth indices of seedling i.e. height, wet and dry weight of shoots and root and root length. The highest values of above indices were noted in 0.4% hydrogel treatment, but most growth indices in this treatment had no significant difference with 0.3% treatment. Also, the maximum values of growth indices were obtained by every 3 days irrigation. In addition, using hydrogel improved some soil properties, so that due to hydrogel, available water content increased and electrical conductivity and bulk density decreased significantly (P<0.05). According to results of this research, adding hydrogel into soil cause the haloxylon seedlings to grow and establish successfully in arid and semi arid area. Therefore, in order to reduce the water deficiency problem in conditions similar to this research, application of 0.4% hydrogel together with every 3 days irrigation can be recommended as a successful method for retaining the soil moisture and increasing the growth of haloxylon seedlings. However, in field condition more amounts of super absorbent and different irrigation intervals should be investigated, too.