PEG (poly ethylene glycol) with nutrient media is usually used under in vitro condition for creating drought stress to plants, but can it be applied to plants growing in soil? And if it can then what parameters should be calculated like osmotic potential of nutrient media and PEG?
Why do you want to add PRG to soil? Why not let the soil dry so that you have a true water stress and not an osmotic stress?
Hello Priyanka
As Neil Turner said, why add PEG to soil? Sorry it would not be novel and not useful. PEG allows a known plant water deficit to be applied very quickly and reproducibly over a wide whereas soil drying is much less predictable - especially if plant leaf area and stomatal conductance vary between experiments so the rate of soil drying cannot be controlled. Also the rate of change of water status (relative water content and water potential - these are closely correlated in short-time studies) is very fast in pot experiment, even if large pots are used. So studies of physiological, metabolic and genomic studies are very difficult. If PEG is added to soil its concentration will increase as the soil dries, so completely negating any value of using PEG. I used PEG for very detailed studies of photosynthesis, and its metabolism with some success. But PEG does have limitations. Roots must be intact otherwise the methods is invalid. See Lawlor DW on Research Gate or I can send later. Regards
Polyethylene glycol creates a water stress by increasing osmotic pressure. The variable can be manipulated by using different molecular weight PEG polymers and also by using a specific polymer molecular weight at different concentration. The use of tensiometer can be utilized to determine the relationship in detail.
Normally to create a drought stress to a dry soil condition different amounts of water would be added. If salt is added it will be able to create an artificial drought simulation.
You might be able to create drought conditions using PEG mixed with soil for a pot experiment it would probably be unwieldly and expensive for a field experiment.
Dear Priyanka Soni Congratulations it is wonderful to think out of the box and it can result in breaking through. Keeping on thinking out of the confines and you will find a new reality of exploding expansion as an expanded reality
Hello Priyanka,
Earlier answers to the question are still valid: there is no value in adding PEG to soil. Additions in the last couple of days to this much earlier exchange are not correct or useful. "Thinking outside the box" does have virtues, but there are physical constraints in this case which cannot be lightly dismissed.
Regards
David
It is better to use the TDR to Estimation drought stress in field cultivation and use of SMC to determination the exact points that plants is exposed to drought stress.
However, in field, gravimetric irrigation using moisture points seems to be the best method.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Statistical Techniques
- Meta-Analysis