Hardening of eucalyptus seedlings via salicylic acid application

Abstract

The agricultural and forest productivity suffer restrictions imposed by water stress, high temperature and high solar radiation. This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of stress attenuation and growth promotion of salicylic acid (SA) application in eucalyptus (E. urophylla x E. grandis hybrid) seedlings under water stress. A completely randomized design, in a 3x4 factorial scheme (three water treatments: constant irrigation with daily replacement of 40% (CI40%) or 100% (CI100%) of evapotranspirated water, and temporary irrigation suspension with replacement of only 40% of evapotranspirated water (S40%); and four SA concentrations: 0 mg L^-1, 100 mg L^-1, 200 mg L^-1 and 300 mg L^-1), was used. Plant photosynthetic parameters and biometric features were evaluated. The stomatal limitation was higher in plants under S40% irrigation, however, the SA application reverted this result, allowing the maintenance of the photosynthetic potential. There was interaction between irrigation regimes and SA doses for number of leaves, leaf area/number of leaves ratio and shoot and root dry mass. It was concluded that the application of 200 mg L^-1 of SA positively affected the growth of eucalyptus seedlings under water stress, being considered an auxiliary management technique to their hardening process.