Effect of electrical conductivity of nutrient solution on growth and development of rose cut flower cv. Dolce vita in hydroponic system

Rose production is a function of the genetic traits and environmental characteristics, including quantity and quality of the irrigation water. Due to the limitation in availability of high quality water resources in most regions of Iran, the effect of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (due to variation in sodium chloride concentration) was investigated on the yield and quality of rose cv. Dolce vita in hydroponic system. The experimental treatments included four nutrient solutions with different electrical conductivities of 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 dS m-1 containing 3.18, 4.57, 5.69 and 6.87 mM sodium and 1.58, 2.71, 3.76 and 5.11 mM chloride concentrations, respectively. Results indicated that treatments not only had no significant effect on quantitative and qualitative performance of rose cv. Dolce vita, but also they improved petal pigmentation only if ions concentrations and ions ratios were properly adjusted in the nutrient solutions. Despite applying 40 percent leaching fraction, electrical conductivities of pots drain water were gradually increased. In addition, by increasing sodium and chloride ions concentrations, only chloride concentration was significantly increased in leaf tissue. Overall, results of this research indicated that by optimizing the nutrient solution, rose cv. Dolce vita tolerated variation in electrical conductivity of nutrient solutions in the range of 1.6 to 2.2 dS m-1 (because of variation in NaCl concentration) without any reduction in performance or quality.