AN ABIOTIC STRESS FACTOR: PHYTOTOXICITY OF HIGH DOSES OF SALICYLIC ACID ON GROWTH PARAMETERS OF TULIPA SP. UNDER GLASSHOUSE AND OUTDOOR CONDITIONS.

Abiotic and biotic stresses are the major problems in agriculture alone or in combination. Salicylic acid (SA) is recognized as a plant stress tolerance enhancer chemical by including plant metabolic activities. Besides natural occurring, exogenous usage of SA and its doses depend on plant species and growth conditions. This study was carried out to reveal the positive or negative effects on tulip (Tulipa gesneriana L. cv. Pretty Woman) growth parameters after dipping the bulbs dipped in aqueous solutions (100, 250, 500 and 1000 mg L^-1 ) of SA under glasshouse and outdoor condition. The evaluated vegetative and flowering parameters were: emergence rate, first emergence day, duration between first-last emergence, vegetative growth success, flowering capacity, healthy flowering capacity, first flowering day, flower life, flower length and flower stalk length. The data indicated that more than 250 mgL^-1 SA doses had a toxic effect on most of the measured vegetative and flowering characteristics (i.e. vegetative growth success, flowering and healthy flowering capacity) under glasshouse condition. While SA had no negative effect on the measured vegetative growth characteristics, high doses of it had also a negative effect on healthy flowering capacity at outdoor conditions. When considering the mentioned observed and measured parameters, before using SA against stress factors exogenously, SA application recommended after determining the toxicity level for any aimed plants and aimed growth conditions at first step [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]