Effects of Different Growing Substrates and Melatonin Foliar Application on Growth and Physiological Traits of Gaillardia grandiflora under Drought Stress Conditions

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Horticulture, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran.

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food Industries, Islamic Azad University / Science and Research Unit

3 Professor, Department of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch

4 Associate Professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar Branch, Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different growing media and melatonin foliar application on the growth and physiological traits of Gaillardia grandiflora under drought stress. The experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement based on a CRD with three replications in a greenhouse and included three irrigation levels (100%, 70%, and 40% of field capacity), five growing media (soil alone, soil + 30% well-decomposed cow manure, soil + 30% leaf compost, soil + 30% perlite, and soil + 30% peat–cocopeat), and melatonin foliar application (200 μM and control). Results showed that severe drought stress (40% field capacity) significantly reduced the number of flowers per plant, flower diameter, stem height, and aboveground dry weight up to 1.6 g. Organic-rich media, particularly leaf compost and peat–cocopeat, improved leaf relative water content up to 89%, increased proline accumulation up to 5.8 mmol g⁻¹ and flavonoids up to 0.9 mg g⁻¹, and reduced ion leakage. Melatonin application had a more pronounced effect on physiological traits, enhancing plant defense capacity and leaf water balance, while flower production was dependent on the growing media and irrigation level. The highest flower number (57 flowers) was recorded in the treatment with 70% field capacity × leaf compost × without melatonin, whereas melatonin showed its greatest effect in maintaining physiological indices and increasing drought tolerance. These results indicate that a combination of moderate irrigation management, organic-rich growing media, and melatonin can enhance sustainable growth and drought resilience of Gaillardia grandiflora.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Introduction

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different growing media and melatonin foliar application on the growth and physiological traits of Gaillardia grandiflora under drought stress.

Objective(s)

The present research was carried out in order to investigate the effects of different growing media and melatonin foliar application on the growth and physiological traits of Gaillardia grandiflora under drought stress.

Material and Methods

The experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement based on a CRD with three replications in a greenhouse and included three irrigation levels (100%, 70%, and 40% of field capacity), five growing media (soil alone, soil + 30% well-decomposed cow manure, soil + 30% leaf compost, soil + 30% perlite, and soil + 30% peat–cocopeat), and melatonin foliar application (200 μM and control).

Results

Results showed that severe drought stress (40% field capacity) significantly reduced the number of flowers per plant, flower diameter, stem height, and aboveground dry weight up to 1.6 g. Organic-rich media, particularly leaf compost and peat–cocopeat, improved leaf relative water content up to 89%, increased proline accumulation up to 5.8 mmol g⁻¹ and flavonoids up to 0.9 mg g⁻¹, and reduced ion leakage. Melatonin application had a more pronounced effect on physiological traits, enhancing plant defense capacity and leaf water balance, while flower production was dependent on the growing media and irrigation level. The highest flower number (57 flowers) was recorded in the treatment with 70% field capacity × leaf compost × without melatonin, whereas melatonin showed its greatest effect in maintaining physiological indices and increasing drought tolerance.

Conclusions

These results indicate that a combination of moderate irrigation management, organic-rich growing media, and melatonin can enhance sustainable growth and drought resilience of Gaillardia grandiflora.

Funding

This study was funded by the University of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. Tehran. Iran.

Authorship contribution

In The this article: “Conceptualization, Payam Javadian and Vahid Abdossi; methodology, Vahid Abdossi; software, Sepideh Kalateh Jari and Elham Danaee, validation, Vahid Abdossi, Sepideh Kalateh Jari and Mohammad Reza Ardakani; formal analysis, Vahid Abdossi and Elham Danaee, resources, Sepideh Kalateh Jari and Elham Danaee; data curation, Elham Danaee; writing Payam Javadian, original draft preparation, Sepideh Kalateh Jari and Elham Danaee; writing review and editing, Vahid Abdossi; visualization, Vahid Abdossi; supervision, Elham Danaee; project administration, Vahid Abdossi; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization of the article and writing of the original and subsequent drafts. All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization of the article and writing of the original and subsequent drafts.

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) have not used any AI-assistant or Related or similar TOOL / SERVICE. This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, etc.

Data availability statement

- Data from this study are available upon request from the authors.

- Data related to this article are available in the Open Science Framework.

Acknowledgements

- The authors are grateful to the Vice Chancellor for Research, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, for their financial and moral support in conducting this research.

- The authors would like to thank all participants in this study, especially the experts from the Qom Municipality's Landscape and Green Space Organization.

- The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions in manuscript revision.

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism, and any form of misconduct.

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. Tehran. Iran.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. 

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Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 57, Issue 3
May 2026
Pages 711-724

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