An experiment to study the effect of seed pre-soaking agents on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) growth under various salinity
levels was performed. Cucumber cv. Summer Green seeds were soaked in solutions of distilled water (control), salicylic acid
(SA) (10-5 M), benzyl aminopurine (BA) (10-5 M) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) (3%) for 6 hours. 14-days old seedlings were
then exposed to salinity levels of 0, 50 and 100 mM NaCl. Seeds pre-soaked in SA showed significantly higher shoot fresh
weight (5.0 g) and shoot (0.8 g) and root dry weight (0.1 g) under saline conditions. Similarly, plants produced from seeds presoaked in SA had more shoot (52.2 cm) and root length (15.8 cm) in saline and non-saline conditions compared with other presoaking agents. Plants procured from seeds pre-soaked in SA also attained more chlorophyll “a” (6.60 mg g-1 dry wt.),
chlorophyll “b” (136.52 mg g-1 dry wt.) and total chlorophyll content (143.12 mg g-1 dry wt.) in both saline and non-saline
conditions, followed by BA and KNO3 pre-soaked seeds. All the three pre-soaking agents were also found helpful in decreasing
Na+
concentrations and increasing K+
concentrations in cucumber seedlings. On the basis of overall results, it can be concluded
that seed pre-soaked with SA and BA has a potential for enhancing salt tolerance in cucumber
