Saline Irrigation of Five Diverse Landscape Plant Species for the Southeastern United States

Abstract

Research was conducted to determine salt tolerance of five common landscape species, Illicium parviflorum, Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’, Muhlenbergia capillaris, Begonia×semperflorens-cultorum and Portulaca oleracea. Two experiments were performed, one with high NaCl concentrations and one with low NaCl concentrations. Plants received daily irrigation of tap water containing one of the following NaCl concentrations: 0 (tap water), 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, or 10000 ppm (mg•L-1) (high NaCl conc. exp.) or 0 (tap water), 250, 500, or 1000 ppm (mg•L-1) (low NaCl conc. exp.). Illicium parviflorum, M. capillaris, B.×semperflorens-cultorum, and P. oleracea were tolerant of saline irrigation that could be expected from greywater. Itea virginica showed signs of salt stress at the lowest NaCl concentration [250 ppm (mg•L-1)] and should not be irrigated with saline greywater or other saline irrigation sources.