Crops tolerant to salinity generally present higher concentrations of some nutrients in the leaves, suggesting that the fertilization of sensitive crops could increase the contents of these nutrients in the leaves to increase the crop tolerance to salts. This work had the objective of studying the effects of N and K on electrical conductivity, pH and nutrient concentrations of soil solution and on concentration of nutrients and proline in the leaves of tomatos irrigated with saline water. The treatments were composed of the combination of three levels of N (7.5, 15.0 and 22.5 g per plant) and K (8, 16 and 24 g K2O per plant) applied by drip fertigation, in a 3 x 3 factorial scheme with five replications. Sodium chloride and calcium chloride were added to irrigation water for obtaining an electrical conductivity of 9.5 dS m-1. Concentrations of NO3 and K in soil solution and of N and K in the leaves increased with the doses of N and K, but did not promote the reduction of Cl and Na concentrations in the leaves. The increase of the proline concentration with the doses of K and the decrease of Cl/N with the doses of N suggest that over-fertilization with potassium and nitrogen fertilizers could be benefitial for tomato under moderate salinity conditions.
Lycopersicon esculentum; proline; plant nutrition
