Effects of Silicon on Cucumber Seeding Growth and Plant Nutrition Under Salt Stress

Seed water culture experiments were conducted to study the effects of silicon on the cucumber seeding growth under salt stress.Analysis of the elements in the shoot and root showed that silicon inhibited Na~+ uptake,but inhanced the K~+、and Ca~(2+) uptake under salt stress,indicating that silicon could alleviate the damage induced by salt stress.The absorption and the root-to-shoot transportation of Na~+,Ca~+ and K~+,were effectively adjusted by the addition of silicon under salt stress.Exogenous silicon increased the uptake and transport of K~+ and Ca~(2+),but there was a negative effect on Na~+.The lower uptake and accumulation of Na~+ mitigated the salt damage and enhanced the growth of salt-stressed cucumber.The accumulation of Na~+ in the root and shoot was higher in salt-sensitive cultivar than in salt-tolerance one,but an opposite was found for K~+ and Ca~(2+).Analysis on the other nutrient elements showed that silicon application decreased the content of N but it had minor effects on P content.