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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (3): 154-163.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2024153

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Effects of different concentrations of silicon and calcium on the growth and physiological characteristics of Mentha spicata seedlings

Meng-qi WANG(), Fei WANG, Wan-lu ZHAO, Yan-qi LIU, Can CUI, Jun-xin YAN()   

  1. Northeast Forestry University,College of Landscape Architecture,Harbin 150040,China
  • Received:2024-04-30 Revised:2024-06-20 Online:2025-03-20 Published:2025-01-02
  • Contact: Jun-xin YAN

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effects of silicon and calcium application on the growth of Mentha spicata seedlings, treatments comprising different concentrations of silicon (500, 1000, 2000 mg·kg-1 applied as sodium metasilicate, NaSiO3·9H2O) and calcium (400, 800, 1200 mg·kg-1 applied as anhydrous calcium chloride CaCl2) were set up to determine the growth and physiological parameters of the seedlings. The results showed that, compared with the control group, all concentrations of silicon and calcium treatments, except 2000 mg·kg-1 silicon, promoted the growth of M. spicata, with 1000 mg·kg-1 silicon and 800 mg·kg-1 calcium having the strongest promotional effect. Soluble sugar and soluble protein contents decreased after silicon treatment, 2000 mg·kg-1 silicon significantly increased proline content, catalase and peroxidase activity, and malondialdehyde content and cell membrane relative permeability increased compared with the control; most of the calcium treatments increased levels of osmotic regulatory substances and antioxidant enzyme activities compared with the control, while malondialdehyde content and cell membrane relative permeability were decreased. Principal component and subordinate function analyses showed that 800 and 400 mg·kg-1 calcium and 1000 mg·kg-1 silicon promoted the growth of M. spicata. These results provide reference data for selecting suitable silicon and calcium concentrations in soil for M. spicata growth.

Key words: Mentha spicata, silicon, calcium, growth morphology, osmotic regulator, antioxidant enzymes, membrane peroxidation