Investigation and Research Practices at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center
Sebastian Ruiz, Cristina Perez (Mentor), Dr. Genhua Niu (Faculty Advisor)
College of Science, Environmental Science, University of Texas at El Paso
Background and Introduction
Discussion
The El Paso Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center is one of the 13 Centers of
Texas A&M AgriLife, one of the agencies of the Texas A&M University System.
During the 8 week period I participated in Dr. Niu’s projects, I was able to
observe some changes and preliminary results from these experiments. In the
case of the salt tolerant hydrangeas, the differences observed were twofold.
Dr. Genhua Niu’s research program is focused on urban landscape water
conservation. One of the research projects in this program is to perform a
variety of horticultural experiments to identify landscape plants that are
tolerant to drought and salt stresses, which are common in El Paso climate.
This project focuses on my involvement in the data collection phase of three
investigations that were ongoing during the July – August 2017 period:
1. Salt tolerance in Hydrangea cultivars (Fig. 1)
2. Drought tolerance in garden vegetables (Fig. 2)
3. Drought tolerance in pomegranate cultivars (Fig. 3)
Figure 1. Hydrangea cultivars in greenhouse.
Figure 3. Pomegranate field
Figure 2. Vegetable garden harvest
Objective and Research Questions
Salt tolerance in Hydrangea cultivars
• Which Hydrangea cultivars (Yamaguchi, Oakhill, & Nigra) are most
resistant to saline solution irrigation in a controlled environment?
• How do different cultivars respond to varying levels of salt
concentration?
Drought tolerance in garden vegetables
• How do different vegetables respond to simulated drought conditions
over time?
• Which species and cultivars are most viable as a horticultural
vegetable crop in an arid region?
• Which vegetables and cultivars have the greatest yield under these
conditions?
Drought tolerance in pomegranate cultivars
• Which pomegranate cultivars perform best in arid conditions?
• How successful are pomegranate cultivars using an automated drip
irrigation system?
Figure 4. Same hydrangea cultivar with 3 treatments.
Figure 5. Powdery Mildew.
Methods
Salt tolerance in Hydrangea cultivars
• Preparing Control, EC5, and, EC10 treatment nutrient solutions (Fig. 4).
• Testing Electroconductivity (dS/m) and pH of nutrient solutions.
• Watering plants daily with the required solutions.
• Maintaining plant health by cleaning and monitoring hydrangeas daily.
• Remediating individuals that have been affected by pathogens and
controlling spread of infection (Fig. 5).
• “Draining” one individual from each cultivar and treatment once a
week to test soil salinity.
• Measuring height, maximum leaf width, chlorophyll, flower count, and
assigning a visual score for every hydrangea each week.
• Preparing clippings for new trials of hydrangea experiments.
Drought tolerance in garden vegetables
• Check garden every day for malfunctioning drip irrigation systems.
• Remove weeds periodically from garden beds to reduce competition
from undesirable vegetation.
• Harvest all vegetable garden beds once a week (Fig. 2).
• Record how many fruits each plant produced, the combined weight of
each plant’s fruit, and which individuals did not survive (Fig. 6).
Drought tolerance in pomegranate cultivars
• Periodically assess every drip irrigation system to ensure proper
placement and function..
• Remove weeds every few days to reduce resource competition.
• Pruning and tying shoots of pomegranate tree.
• Labelling plant cultivars with permanent aluminum tags once original
soil tags became buried in vegetation (Fig. 7).
Figure 6. Counting and weighing eggplants.
Figure 7: Pomegranate cultivar chart.
First, within the same cultivar there were observable differences between
each treatment type. As expected, the plants that were watered using a saline
solution (EC5, EC10) performed worse than those watered with the control
solution. As the salinity increased, the majority of the treated plants showed
signs of foliar salt damage (such as leaf burn or necrosis), as well as stunted
growth and drooped leaves. Second, within the same treatment the
difference between cultivars was immediately apparent; the Yamaguchi
hydrangeas were much more resistant to the increased salinity than the
others cultivars, as shown by their larger height and leaf width (Fig. 9).
In the case of the drought tolerance in garden vegetables and the drought
tolerance in pomegranate cultivars experiments, the observable changes
were much more discreet.
I was very surprised by the sheer amount of vegetables we harvested every
week. During my time at the Center the tomatoes dried up and had to be
removed, but virtually every other plant produced quite a few vegetables
each week. Considering that these were grown using a hands-free drip system
in an unprotected bed during the El Paso summer, the size and amount of
cucumbers, eggplants, and chilis were staggering (Fig. 8). Similarly, the size
and health of the drip-fed pomegranates, irrespective of their cultivars, was
also very impressive. However, given that pomegranates take years to grow,
there were no significant changes observable during my stay.
Figure 8. Vegetable garden harvest
Figure 9. Control, EC5, EC10 in 3 cultivars
My Experience
During the two months I spent at the AgriLife Research Center, I had the great
opportunity to assist Dr. Niu’s team on virtually every project they had
ongoing. I got my hands dirty, asked questions nonstop, and was allowed to
participate in all corners of the Center. I really valued this experience because
it allowed me to immerse myself in the role of a researcher, rather than
simply being set a single task day after day. This internship has helped me
tremendously in helping me choose a path upon graduation, which to me is
something invaluable.
References and Acknowledgments
1. Sun, Y., Niu, J. Zhang, and P. Del Valle. 2015. Growth responses of an interspecific cotton breeding line and its parents to controlled drought using an automated irrigation system. The
Journal of Cotton Science 19:290-297.
2. Sun, Y., Niu, C. Perez, H.B. Pemberton, and J. Altland. 2018. Responses of marigold cultivars to saline water irrigation. HortTechology 28(2): 166-171.
https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH03981-1
3. Liu, Q., Y. Sun, Niu, J. Altland, L. Chen, and L. Jiang. 2017. Morphological and physiological responses of ten ornamental species to saline water irrigation. HortScience 52(12):1816–1822.
4. Fund from the National Science Foundation IUSE program (Improving Undergrad STEM Education); award # DUE 1611860
5. Thank you to Dr. Lixin Jin & Dr. Maryam Zarei for advice and assistance creating this poster.
6. Thank you Dr. Genhua Niu and Ms. Cristina Perez for your mentorship and help during this internship.