Comparing the Effect of Ebb and Flow Irrigation System and Hand-Watering on the Growth and Some Morphological and Physiological Traits of Cyclamen (Cyclamen Persicum Mill.)

All physiological processes of plants depend on the water so that 80-95% of leaf and root biomass of herbaceous plants is composed of water. Plant growth and development are largely dependent on the selection of a proper irrigation system and nutrition. Closed irrigation systems are suggested for plant cultivation in order to optimize water and fertilizer consumption and reduce production costs. This research was conducted to compare the efficiency of the ebb and flow irrigation system with the manual (hand) irrigation system in cyclamen production. The results showed that plants irrigated by ebb and flow system had better growth and quality. The ebb and flow irrigation system resulted in a two-fold increase in leaf area (74.96%), a significant increase in flower number (40.66%), and a significant decrease in the number of days to flowering (16.67%) compared to the manual irrigation system. plants grown in ebb and flow irrigation system showed an increase in photosynthetic pigments (significant 11.27% and 11.70% increases in chlorophyll index and chlorophyll b at the p < 0.01 level, respectively and a significant 11.17% increase in chlorophyll a at the p < 0.05 level) compared to those grown in the manual irrigation system. Nitrogen, potassium, and calcium uptake was higher in the plants irrigated by the ebb and flow irrigation system versus the manually irrigated plants. The ebb and flow irrigation system reduced nutrient solution consumption by about 50%. Overall, application of the ebb and flow irrigation system improved the growth indices and visual quality of cyclamen flowers.