Salinity tolerance.

What is salinity, how do I measure it, what species are compatible with my water and soil?

Today we answer your questions.

Each grass variety has a completely different salinity tolerance. Before defining the salinity tolerance of each species, let's discuss what salinity is and what it affects.

Soils naturally contain salts of different kinds that dissolve in the part of the soil that is represented by water. The dissolved salts are converted into ions, and it is these ions that represent the salinity that we measure both in laboratory analysis as with direct measuring instruments. But there are conditions and cultural practices that have the effect of increasing salt levels in the soil. And what are the effects of increased salinity in the field?

• High salt concentration may cause phytotoxicity depending on the species occupying the field.
• The osmotic pressure increases, which means that it is more difficult for plants to obtain water from the soil. This difficulty occurs even if the soil has good moisture conditions.
• Soils are a complicated web of interacting materials with chemical and physical relationships. Soils that have suffered high levels of salinity lose structure. The main cause of the de-structuring is the ion sodiumwhich is exchanged for magnesium ion and calcium ion and causes the dispersion of soil-forming colloids. The soil becomes compacted and loses its pores. The loss of structure results in soils with lower infiltration rates, which become waterlogged more easily.

In order to avoid these problems, there are handling solutions that are well known to all maintenance teams such as the washes.

That said, we can now begin to define which grasses are easily adapted to soil salinity. The teachers Kelli Belden y Karen L. Panter in collaboration with the University of Wyoming and teachers Md. Kamal Uddin y Abdul Shukor Juraimi of the Universiti Putra Malaysia The two countries coincided remarkably in the development of their studies.

• Sensible -> 3 dS m⁻¹or less
• Mrately Sensible -> 3-6 dS m⁻¹
• Moderately Tolerant -> 6-10 dS m⁻¹
• Tolerant -> 10 dS m⁻¹or more

Acceptable salinity for the most common species.

For temperate or cool season species the following ratings were established:

For warm climate species the rating was as follows:

There are very few species that tolerate very high salinity levels. Salinities above 16 dS/cm are only tolerated in cold climates by Puccinellia spp. and in warm climates by Stenotaphrum secundatum . So the range of possibilities is very limited.

That is why at Tiloom we recommend frequent soil and water analyses to know the state of the property and never reach dangerous salinity levels. Because good practices are the way to success.

Salinity measurement is something that needs to be managed on an ongoing basis to avoid problems that can arise without warning.

• The POGO is the most accurate technology on the market.
• TDR provides us with a very cost-effective estimate.
• There are electroconductivity sensors which work only on the direct salinity measurement for the soil.