Do Hydro-Retainer Polymers Attenuate Damage from Water Fluctuations in Leaf Metabolism and the Quality of Cedrela odorata Seedlings?

Water stress, caused by excess or lower of water, can negatively affect leaf metabolism and seedling growth and prevent it from developing its maximum genetic potential. In this sense, it is necessary to use as that can mitigate these deleterious effects on plants at their initial phase of growth. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of hydrogel in the mitigation of water stress (deficit and flooding) on photosynthetic metabolism and growth characteristics of C. odorata seedlings, and also evaluate their recovery potential after the resumption of irrigation. The characteristics of photosynthetic metabolism, growth and quality of C. odorata seedlings showed a reduction caused by water fluctuations, indicating sensitivity to these conditions, although photosynthesis photochemistry was affected to a lower extent. The addition of the hydro-retainer polymer contributed little to the biochemical and photochemical indicators of photosynthesis and seedling quality, a fact that directs us to reject our hypothesis that its use promotes mitigation of damage to the photosynthetic apparatus and to the growth. Cedrela odorata is sensitive to water variations in the soil, but recovers the photosynthetic metabolism and quality of the seedlings once the stressful water condition is suspended. The application of the hydro-retainer polymer mitigated, but the seedlings recovered regardless of their presence. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers