Effects of Salt and Water Stress on Walnut of The Leaf Nutrient Accumulation

Abstract  This study was conducted to determine the effects of salt and water stress on the accumulation of macro and micro elements in walnut. Two-old year walnut samples from plants grafted onto seedling rootstocks of Juglans regia L. were used. The experiment was designed by factorial design in randomized blocks and lasted for 2 years in pots. In the research, the plants were exposed to five irrigation water salinity levels (C0=Control, C1=1, C2=2, C3=3 and C4=5 dS.m-1) and three irrigation water rates (I1=1 liter/week, I2=3 liters/week and I3=5 liters/week) with four replications. Soil salinity was increased with increasing irrigation water salinity. Plants couldn’t survive at 11 dS.m-1 soil salinity under I3 conditions while dead plants were observed at 2.68 dS.m-1 soil salinity under I1 conditions. Higher soil salinity caused increases in leaf Fe, K, Na and Cl accumulations. Leaf Cl content varied between 100 ppm (S0-I1) to 970 ppm (C2-I2) and Na content ranged from 146.1 ppm (C0-I3) to 227.8 (C2-I3).  K/Na and Ca/Na ratios of leaf were decreased under salinity conditions.  Key words: K/Na ratio, salinity stress, walnut