The most suitable nutrient for watermelon seedling growing determination of the solution

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of different nutrient solutions on growth parameters and seedling quality of watermelon plants. The research was carried out in the Climate Room of the Physiology Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. In the study, Crimson Sweet watermelon variety was used as the plant material. Seeds of this variety were germinated in a mixture of peat and perlite and grown in the same medium by watering with nutrient solutions having different ratios of nutrient contents. The research was carried out in stages. In the first stage, watermelon seeds were sown in vials containing a mixture of peat and perlite and watered with pure water until germination. In the second stage, irrigation was done by applying seven different nutrient solutions. There were a total of 8 applications in the study. One of these applications was the control group, one was a commercial fertilizer and the remaining 6 applications were prepared based on modified Hoagland solution. Plant growth parameters were investigated in the study. The parameters examined included stem length, stem diameter, number of leaves, internode distance, root length, leaf fresh weight, stem fresh weight, total plant fresh weight, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, chlorophyll amount and color measurement values (L*, a*, b*, C, hue). Statistical analysis of the examined parameters was performed using Duncan multiple comparison test. According to the data obtained, the best results were seen in the 4th and 5th applications.