Leaf and root mineral concentrations of four pistachio seedling rootstocks under different irrigation regimes

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of water stress on the growth and mineral concentrations in the leaves and roots of four pistachio seedling rootstocks including Pistacia vera ‘Badami-Riz-Zarand’, ‘Ghazvini’, ‘Sarakhs’ and P. mutica. Irrigation treatments were 100% ETc (control), 65% ETc (medium stress) and 30% ETc (severe stress) applying for 75 days on four months old pistachio seedlings. At the end of experiment, biomass and nutrient contents in the leaves and roots were determined. The obtained results indicated that water stress had significant effects on biomass and mineral composition of the leaves and roots of studied rootstocks. In the case of shoot, root and leaf dry weight, the rootstocks P. mutica andP. vera cv. `Badami-Riz-Zarand’ showed lower reduction under water stress. P. mutica showed greatest contents of P and Mn in the leaves and P, K and Ca in the roots under water stress. P. vera ‘Badami-Riz-Zarand’ also showed highest contents of Mg in the leaves and roots under water stress, whereas, `Ghazvini’ showed highest contents of N, K, Cu in the leaves and Fe, Cu, Zn in the root under water stress. Pistacia vera L. ‘Sarakhs’ also showed highest contents of Fe in the leaves and N, Mn in the root under water stress. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that water stress had negative effects on pistachio seedling rootstocks and P. mutica and P. vera ‘Badami-Riz-Zarand’ showed more resistance than the other genotypes.