مجله گل و گیاهان زینتی
سال هشتم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1402)

Gerbera is one of the most beautiful and popular commercial cut flowers in the world and has taken the fourth place among this group of flowers. Considering the importance of flowers and ornamental plants, it seems necessary to improve the quantity and quality of these plants. A factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different concentrations of fulvic acid and iron nano-chelate on the morphological characteristics and the amount of leaf elements of Gerbera jamesonii ‘Dune’, based on a completely randomized design with two factors and three replications. The treatments included fulvic acid in 4 concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 250 mg L-1 as drench and iron nano-chelate in 4 concentrations of 0, 1, 2 and 4 g L-1 as foliar application that applied in pot and in hydroponic conditions. The characteristics measured in this research were: the number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of leaves and roots, root volume, vase life and absorption rate of some nutrients. The results of the research showed that with the increase in the concentration of iron nano-chelate and fulvic acid, the number of leaves increased, so that the maximum number of leaves was obtained at the concentration of 250 mg L-1 of fulvic acid and 4 g L-1 of iron nano-chelate. Iron nano-chelate treatment alone caused an increase in leaf fresh weight, but this increase was significant only at a concentration of 4 g L-1 compared to the control. Root fresh weight was significantly increased in all fulvic acid and iron nano-chelate treatments. The root volume also increased with the application of different concentrations of fulvic acid, but its increase was significant only at the concentration of 100 mg L-1 of fulvic acid compared to the control. The amount of potassium absorption decreased with the increase in the concentration of iron nano-chelate and fulvic acid. Phosphorus absorption at a concentration of 250 mg L-1 of fulvic acid and iron and zinc absorption at a concentration of 2 g L-1 of iron nano-chelate with 50 and 250 mg L-1 of fulvic acid reached their maximum, respectively. The results of this research showed that fulvic acid and iron nano-chelate improve the growth characteristics of gerbera by affecting the optimal absorption of elements.

Bedding plants are important elements in landscape construction, and their cultivation is limited by drought stress. Improving the cultivation medium of these flowers with organic materials such as biochar can be a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to increase their tolerance to drought stress. For this purpose, a greenhouse research was conducted to mitigate the effects of drought on morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of African marigold by application of rice husk biochar. The factorial experiment was conducted with two factors of irrigation treatment at three levels of 100, 50 and 25% of the field capacity (FC) and biochar at three levels of 0, 3.5 and 7% (w/w) in a completely randomized design with 5 replications. The results showed that drought decreased the morphological factors of shoot height, shoot dry weight, number of leaves, number of lateral branches, number of flowers, and length and diameter of flowers, so their lowest value were obtained in 25% FC. Furthermore, the use of biochar improved the morphological traits mentioned under drought conditions. The activity of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes, hydrogen peroxide content, proline, malondialdehyde, soluble carbohydrates, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid increased under drought conditions. The use of biochar reduced these biochemical traits under drought conditions. Furthermore, relative water content of leaf, cell membrane stability index and soluble proteins showed a decreasing trend under drought conditions, and the use of biochar led to the improvement of these traits. In general, 7% biochar was more effective than 3.5% in reducing the adverse effects of drought stress. Therefore, 7% rice husk biochar can be recommended as a suitable soil improver to increase tolerance to drought stress in bedding plants for landscape purposes, although more investigations are needed both under field cultivation and at other applied amounts.

Water-deficit and consecutive droughts have led to drought stress in most parts of the world. We need to prepare a good program to use better the available water. Different materials can be used to increase water use efficiency. Mineral superabsorbent is one of the materials used around the world. These materials absorb water in the soil so that reserved water is usable by plant in the time of drought stress and they can reduce stress and lead to yield loss prevention. So that, an experiment was conducted to evaluate effects of different mineral superabsorbent and irrigation cycles on tall fescue. An experiment based on randomized block design with three replication was used. Two irrigation periods (3 and 10 days) and two kinds of mineral superabsorbents (polymer and mineral) with amounts of 160 and 240 g kg-1 were used as experimental treatments. No mineral superabsorbent was used as control. Results showed that mineral and polymer superabsorbent amounts in 3 days irrigation period had significant effect on root fresh and dry weights and shoot fresh and dry weights at 5% level, in greenhouse test. Likewise, both superabsorbents, had significant effect on proline amount. Furthermore, polymer amounts had significant effect at 5% level, in field test. In general, it can be concluded that the use of mineral superabsorbents can be a good solution to save water consumption in green space. Also, it can enhance tall fescue growth under drought condition.

One of the most important economic activities in Mazandaran province is the production of flowers and ornamental plants; so that it is considered one of the most important hubs for the production of flowers and ornamental plants in the country, and planners and executives are looking to help develop and improve this type of agricultural activity. Therefore, the aim of the current research was to analyze the obstacles and challenges of flower and ornamental plants greenhouse owners in Mazandaran province and to provide solutions to solve them. This research was a survey with a quantitative approach. The statistical population of this research consisted of the producers of flowers and ornamental plants in Mazandaran province, 202 of them were selected using the Daniel's formula and simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a questionnaire, in which its content validity was confirmed by a group of horticultural and extensional and educational experts. In addition, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine its reliability and indicated its appropriate value (0.7-0.9). The SPSSV26 software was benefited for data analysis. The findings in the descriptive statistics section showed that most of the greenhouse owners (74.3%) were men, most of their educational level (48.5%) was a bachelor and the majority of them (74.1%) were greenhouse owners. Also, according to the findings of the research, most of the greenhouse owners (56.5%) had traditional and semi-traditional greenhouses, and more than half of them (65.8%) were engaged in the cultivation of indoor flowers. The irrigation method of more than half (77.2%) of the respondents was flooded and the source of irrigation water for more than half (53.5%) of them was from underground water (well). Totally, eight factors were identified based on the results of factor analyzed on 36 variables of the greenhouse owners facing challenges and obstacles in Mazandaran province. These factors included economic-supportive, infrastructural-institutional, barriers to scientific-practical empowerment, educational-extensional barriers, marketing and sales, university-industry connection, monitoring and supervision system and political-legal obstacles. Therefore, policy makers, planners and executives can pay attention to the challenges and obstacles identified in front of the greenhouse owners by solving them to improve the situation of flower and ornamental plant greenhouse owners and to develop greenhouse cultivation in the province.

Microorganisms associated with healthy plant tissues that endure for some or all of their life cycle without causing the host to exhibit disease symptoms are endophytes. One of Iran's most popular ornamental plants is the plane tree (Platanus orientalis L.), which can live up to 1000 years. We looked for fungal endophytes in the sapwood and bark of young and old plane trees in three cities in central Iran: Mahallat, Natanz, and Isfahan. According to a gridded sampling strategy, samples were taken from young (less than 100 years old) and old (200-1000 years old) trees that were randomly selected as replications. The findings showed that Mahallat had a higher density of fungal endophytes. Mahallat, which has higher rainfall and a lower yearly temperature, had the largest species richness, according to the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. Over all sites, older trees considerably outperformed younger ones in terms of endophyte frequency and the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. Our findings also imply that the tissue type has a discernible impact on the frequency of fungal endophytes and species diversity; higher isolate frequency was observed in bark tissue, but higher species diversity was discovered in stems. According to the identification of endophytic fungi based on morphology and rDNA (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) sequences, the most prevalent fungal endophytes were Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp., and Ulocladium sp.

Ornamental Kales are one of the most important plants of the autumn season, they are the only ornamental plants in the green space in the cold season due to their tolerance to cold and frost. Nutrition and temperature are important factors affecting plant quality, especially in terms of plant height, canopy size and color, and leaf size and number. An experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction effect of different concentrations of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on morpho-physiological indices of ornamental kale. The treatments include the interaction of concentrations of 125, 175 and 225 mg L-1 of nitrogen and potassium (from the source of urea and potassium sulfate, K2SO4) in the form of N:K ratios including 125:125, 125:175, 125:225, 175:125, 175:175, 175:225, 225:125, 2 25:175 and 225:225 and distilled water (as control). The results showed that the treatments had a significant effect on all the measured indices. The highest fresh and dry weight of the shoot was belonged to N:K treatment equal to 175:175. The highest number of leaves in the 125:125 treatment, the highest crown diameter in the 225:225 treatment, and the highest leaf chlorophyll content was belonged to 175 mg L-1 nitrogen along with different concentrations of potassium. The highest soluble sugar was observed in the treatments containing 175 and 225 mg L-1 of nitrogen and potassium, and the highest proline was observed in the 225:225 treatment. The highest amount of anthocyanin was belonged to the control and among the fertilization treatments, it was belonged to the level of 125 mg L-1 of potassium. Based on these observations and also considering the importance of canopy diameter in ornamental kale, the amount of 175 to 225 mg L-1 of nitrogen along with 225 mg L-1 of potassium can be suggested for the optimal growth of this plant.

Drought stress is the most important abiotic stress that affects the growth and development of plants. One of the strategies for soil moisture management and plant tolerance to drought stress is the use of organic materials compatible with the environment, including superabsorbent polymers. In order to investigate some morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of Acacia seedlings, this research was conducted with three types of superabsorbent polymers (A200, SNF and Barbary) at three concentrations (0, 1 and 2 g/kg) at three levels of drought stress (one week, two weeks and three weeks irrigation intervals). This experiment was factorial in randomized complete block design with three replications under field condition. The results showed that drought stress caused a significant decrease in fresh and dry weight of shoot, photosynthesis, transpiration, relative water content, chlorophyll and carotenoid content and significantly increased ion leakage, proline and total carbohydrates. The application of superabsorbent polymers increased the tolerance of Acacia to drought stress so that the use of 1 g/kg Barbary superabsorbent polymers in the first week had the highest shoot fresh weight (144 g) and the amount of chlorophyll (1.73 mg/g fw). in the first week, the use of 1 g/kg A200 superabsorbent polymer increased the rate of photosynthesis by 5.48% and the use of 2 g/kg A200 increased the rate of transpiration by 41.66% and the relative water content of leaves by 11.06% compared to control (0 gr/kg A200). Also, in the first week, the use of 2 g/kg SNF super absorbent increased the amount of carotenoids by 36.58% compared to 0 g/kg SNF. The use of 2 g/kg A200 in the third week reduced ion leakage by 22.50% compared to 0 g/kg A200 in the first week. The use of SNF superabsorbent at a concentration of 1 g/kg in the first week reduced the amount of proline by 22.08% compared to 0 gr/kg SNF. Therefore, the use of superabsorbent polymers especially Barbary increases the tolerance of Acasia to drought stress.

The use of different dyes in changing the color of cut flowers is one of the new and emerging operations in order to increase diversity in the market of buying and selling flowers. In order to investigate the effect of different concentrations of food and industrial dyes on the vase life and physiological traits, an experiment was conducted in the form of factorial design based on a completely randomized basis with 3 replications. The first factor included dyes (control (without color), brilliant blue 4500 mg L-1, carmosin 4500 mg L-1, quinoline yellow 4500 mg L-1, acid orange 7 2500 mg L-1) and the second factor includes the preservative solution (distilled water and preservative solution including citric acid 300 mg L-1 + hydroxyquinoline sulfate 200 mg L-1 + sucrose 5%). The results showed that yellow quinoline dye + pulsing solution had the longest vase life (8 days), petal soluble solids (6.2%), the highest cell membrane stability and the least petal electrolyte leakage (23.5%) and the bacterial population of vase life solution (4.29 log10 CFU/ml). The relative fresh weight showed an upward trend until the second day, then a downward trend was recorded in all treatments. In the investigation of flower opening percentage trait, the orange acid 7 + distilled water treatment performed very poorly (6.87) and showed the lowest vase life (4 days) and the amount of soluble solids (2.52%) compared to other treatments. The control + distilled water treatment had the lowest relative fresh weight, the highest electrolyte leakage of petals (41.4%) and the highest bacterial accumulation in vase life solution (5.86 log10 CFU/ml). It seems that the use of food colors (Brilliant Blue, Carmosine, Quinoline Yellow) along with the use of preservative solution temporarily, in addition to creating variety, by improving the relative fresh weight index compared to undyed flowers and industrial colors (Orange acid 7), has increased the vase life of Polianthes tuberosa flowers.

Chromium is one of the most important heavy metals, that has been excessively added to the environment in recent years due to extensive uses in industry, agricultural toxins and the release of industrial wastes into the water. To evaluate the impact of stress at different levels of chromium (0, 75, and 150 mg/kg soil) on three cultivars of rose (White, Mohandesi, and Haft rang) a greenhouse factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications in pots at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2018. Four months after planting, morphological and biochemical traits were evaluated. According to the results, it was found that the greatest decrease in chlorophyll a and the ratio of chlorophyll a/b was in Haft rang cultivar with a decrease of 53.3 and 80.3%, respectively. Amount of carotenoids in the White cultivar was 85.6%, amount of chlorophyll b in the Mohandesi cultivar showed 5.1% decrease in comparison to the control at a concentration of 150 mg/kg of soil chromium. The highest amount of chromium accumulation at a concentration of 150 mg/kg was in the roots of the Haft rang rose cultivar and the leaves of the Mohandesi rose cultivar, with a ratio of 610 and 3915 times respectively, compared to the control of these cultivars. The highest accumulation of chromium in the leaves was in the Mohandesi cultivar with an average of 3915 ppm, in the root of Haft rang cultivar with an average of 10988 ppm, and the soil in the white variety with an average of 597 ppm at the concentration of 150 mg/kg of chromium. With the increase in chromium concentration, the content of soluble carbohydrates increased, and this increase was higher in the Mohandesi cultivar than in the other cultivars. Leaf area, chlorophyll index, and wet and dry weight of aerial parts increased in all cultivars with increasing chromium concentration. Also, the results showed that Haft rang cultivar was more resistant to the increase of chromium than the other cultivars.

Miniature roses are hybrid roses that are widely used in landscape or as pot plants and cut flowers. Traditional methods of propagation for this species is associated with time limitation and rootstock propagule, and micropropagation techniques are increasing. Root induction of roses cuttings through different plant growth regulators is important. In this study, the effects of different concentrations of Indole-3-Butyric Acid (IBA), putrescine and wounding the end of cuttings on rooting of Rosa hybrida cv. SanaZard under in vitro and greenhouse conditions was investigated. Micro-cuttings were planted in MS basal culture medium containing five concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg L-1) of IBA and putrescine. In the greenhouse, the cuttings were treated with five levels of IBA, putrescine (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 g L-1), and two levels of wounding (with and without wounding) and planted in pots after application of treatments. This study was conducted as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The results of greenhouse experiments showed that the maximum length and number of roots were obtained under the treatment of 1 g L-1of IBA (31.5 cm and 6.50, respectively). Wounding the end of the cutting increased the number of roots by 33.33%. In in vitro condition, the highest number of roots was observed in 1 mg L-1 IBA + 2 mg L-1putrescine (6) treatment and the highest number of shoots were obtained with the simultaneous application of 0.25, 0.5 and 2 g L-1 of IBA + all levels of putrescine. In general, it seems that the combined use of IBA and putrescine could increase the rooting of miniature rose cuttings in in vitro and in situ conditions. Also, wounding the ends of cuttings plays an important role on inducing the roots under greenhouse environment.

This study examined how salinity affects the growth and mineral uptake of Damask rose seedlings in hot and dry areas, where soil and salt water are major challenges for plant cultivation. Four levels of salinity (0, 25, 50, and 75 mM NaCl) were applied to the seedlings under field condition. The following traits were measured: wet and dry weights of shoots and roots, proline and malondialdehyde contents, guaiacol peroxidase and catalase activities, soluble carbohydrates, chlorophyll and carotenoid levels, and concentrations of nitrogen, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc in the leaves. The results indicated that salinity reduced the vegetative growth and the chlorophyll and carotenoid levels of the seedlings. Salinity also increased the proline and soluble carbohydrate contents and the antioxidant enzymes activities in the leaves, which were biochemical responses to salt stress. Moreover, salinity disrupted the mineral balance in the leaves by increasing the sodium accumulation and decreasing the uptake of the other elements. To mitigate the adverse effects of salinity and supply adequate nutrients, the use of fertilizer solutions is recommended.

Salinity stress is a main restricting factor for plants’ growth and development, resulting from climate change. The ornamental tobacco (Nicotiana alata) from the Solanaceae family is a bedding plant with attractive flowers suitable for semi-arid and arid lands. In order to obtain salt tolerance, the Na+/H+ antiporter gene was transferred from the halophyte eelgrass (Z. marina) grown in saltwater lake Urmia to N. alata. For gene transformation, leaf explants were immersed in liquid medium containing Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing the vacuolar gene ZmNHX1. The explants were subcultured on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg L-1 benzyl amino purine, 0.1 mg L−1 naphthalene acetic acid, 200 mg L-1 cefotaxime and 10 mg L-1 kanamycin. After regeneration, salinity stress was applied by 0, 210, 230 and 240 mM NaCl in a completely randomized design with three replications. For the first time, vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter gene ZmNHX1 was successfully transferred to ornamental tobacco. Compared to the wild type plants, the transgenic plants showed higher content of leaf chlorophyll, leaf carotenoid, fresh weight and dry weight of the whole plant, leaf proline content and leaf catalase activity. After salinity stress, the T revealed greater chlorophyll, carotenoid, anthocyanin, K+: Na+ ratio, fresh weight, dry weight, proline amount, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activity. The T also demonstrated a lower decline in relative water content and a lesser increase of leaves electrolyte leakage, compared to the WT. The stable expression of ZmNHX1 obtained from eelgrass confer salinity stress tolerance in ornamental tobacco providing a new window for cultivation of this species in areas exposed to salinity stress and the resulting transgenic ornamental tobacco is suggested for garden flower cultivation in areas exposed to salinity stress.