A greenhouse experiment was conducted in the Soil Science Department of the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil, to evaluate the effect of silicon on mineral nutrition and dry matter production of moringa plants, cultivated under salinity stress. The experiments followed a randomized factorial block-type design, in three replications. In pots of 3 L capacity with one plant each, five levels of NaCl (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mol m-3) were combined with four levels of SiO2 (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mol m-3) in Hoagland and Arnon nutrient solution at 50 % of the normal concentration. The solutions were renewed every 10 days and the plants harvested after 45 days. Leaves, stems, and roots were separately dried for the determination of dry matter and elemental contents - N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Na, Cl, and Si. The relations Na/K, Na/Ca, and Na/Mg were determined. K and Ca contents increased while the Na content and the Na/K, Na/Ca, and Na/Mg relations in the leaves decreased under the influence of silicon. Silicon did not reduce the restrictive effects of NaCl on the dry matter production of the moringa plants.
nutritive solution; salinity stress; silicon