INFLUENCE OF BIOSTIMULANT AND SUBSTRATE VOLUME ON ROOT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCARLET SAGE (Salvia splendens L.) TRANSPLANTS

The influence of mycorrhizal fungi in uptake of heavy metals,pollution response index and yield of sunflower in degraded soils wereinvestigated. It was a greenhouse experiment with 2 arbuscular mycorrhizae (Glomus mosseae, Glomus intraradices) and a non-inoculation that served ascontrol. The treatments were replicated 3 times in a completely randomized design. Each of the treatment consisted of 30 pots and each pot was filled with 5 kg byweight of dried top soil. Solutions of lead acetate and cadmium sulphate at variablelevels of: 0, 250, 500, 750, 1000 mg kg-1 and 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 mg kg-1 respectivelywere used to pollute the soils. Increase in pollution-stressed conditionssignificantly (P<0.05) reduced the infection of sunflower roots, and the uptake ofPb and Cd in the dry root of sunflower was also significantly (P<0.05) reduced. Also, arbuscular mycorrhizae enhanced the root infection of sunflower, increasedthe pollution tolerance and consequently increased the yield of sunflower