The responses of pepper plants to nitrogen form and dissolved oxygen concentration of nutrient solution in hydroponics.

BACKGROUND

The presence of oxygen in the growth medium is absolutely essential for root development and the overall metabolic processes of plants. When plants do not have an adequate oxygen supply for respiration, they can experience a condition known as hypoxia. In order to investigate the impact of different nitrogen forms and varying oxygen levels in nutrient solutions on the growth, photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of bell pepper plants, a comprehensive study was conducted. The experiment was designed as a factorial experiment, considering two main factors: nitrogen forms (calcium nitrate and ammonium sulfate) with a fixed nitrogen concentration of 5 mM, and the oxygen levels of the nutrient solutions (ranging from 1.8 ± 0.2 to 5.3 ± 0.2 mg. L).

RESULTS

The study examined the effects of nitrogen (NH and NO) application on various parameters of vegetative growth. The results demonstrated that the use of ammonium (NH) led to a reduction in the most measured parameters, including the fresh and dry mass of both the root and shoot, at low O concentrations of 1.8 ± 0.2; 2.6 ± 0.2 and 3.8 ± 0.2 mg. L. However, an interesting observation was made regarding the impact of oxygen levels on root growth in plants grown with nitrate (NO). Specifically, the highest levels of oxygen significantly increased root growth in NO-fed plants. Additionally, the application of NH resulted in an increase in chlorophyll concentration in the leaves, particularly when combined with high oxygen levels in the nutrient solution. On the other hand, leaves of plants fed with NO exhibited higher photosynthetic rate (A), intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency (A/C) compared to those fed with NH. Furthermore, it was found that NO-fed plants displayed the highest instantaneous carboxylation efficiency at oxygen levels of 3.8 and 5.3 mg. L, while the lowest efficiency was observed at oxygen levels of 1.8 and 2.6 mg. L. In contrast, NH-grown plants exhibited a higher maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (F/F), as well as increased variable fluorescence (F) and maximum fluorescence (F), compared to NO-grown plants. Interestingly, the NO-fed plants showed an increase in F/F, F, and F with the elevation of oxygen concentration in the nutrient solution up to 5.3 mg. L.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that, the growth and photosynthesis parameters in bell pepper plants are sensitive to oxygen stress in floating hydroponic culture. Therefore, the oxygen level in the nutrient solution must not be lower than 3.8 and 5.3 mg. L in NH and NO -supplied culture media or nutrient solutions, respectively.