Characteristics of ornamental-medicinal species of balanketflower (Gaillardia aristata) under different mulch treatments in an arid climate region

Considering Iran’s climatic conditions, which is located in an arid and semi-arid climatic region, investigating the methods of water-saving and more efficient use of water resources, is one of the most important research priorities. For this reason, in this research, the effects of organic and inorganic mulches on the performance of the flowering plant of Gaillardia aristata were investigated. The experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experiment included four mulch treatments of wood chips, scoria, polyethylene, pine leaves and no mulch as the control. The results showed that mulches had significant effects on the number of the days to flowering, flowering period, flower diameter, plant height, dry and fresh weight of roots and shoots, visual quality, percentage of weeds, water use efficiency, chlorophyll index, chlorophyll a and b but relative water content and stem diameter were not significantly affected by the mulch treatments. The results showed polyethylene and pine leaf mulches had the best effects on most of the traits compared to the other mulch types. Based on these results we can recommend using polyethylene and pine leaves as mulches for planting Gaillardia aristata in arid and semi-arid climate regions.