Differences in Growth Rates and Germination Rates of Various Commercial Deicers on Kochia prostrata and Solidago juncea

Aims: To examine the effects of deicers on the plants Kochia prostrata and Solidago juncea.

Study Design: All studies were replicated three times, with a minimum of five seeds per pot.

Place and Duration of Study: Samples were kept at Saint Xavier University. Plants were grown for 4 weeks before harvest.

Methodology: The soil was a 1:1:2 ratio of perlite, peat moss, and soil mix. The seeds were left to germinate and grow under a lamp and were watered with 125mL of deionized water twice a week, every 2 or 3 days until harvest.

Experiment 1: Upon germination, the salt solutions were used in concentrations of 0mM, 50mM, 100mM, 150mM, and 200mM in 125mL portions to water the plants only once.

Experiment 2: Upon germination real world applications of deicers were applied to pots one time only.

Experiment 3: The soil mixture was placed in a total of 26 paper cups (24 salt concentrated & 2 controls). The soil was then saturated with 20mL of each salt solution (0PPM,250 PPM, 1000 PPM, 1250 PPM, 2000 PPM) one time only.

Results: For experiment 1 the effect of the salt solutions showed a statistically significant difference between all the salts and rock salt (P<0.01). For experiment 2 two of the salts were statistically significantly different than the control (p<0.05). Experiment 3 showed all greatly affected germination in S. juncea. Complete Melt Road salt treated plants had at least 50% germination at 1500 ppm or less.

Conclusion: The high germination rates may have been because the Complete Melt Road salt is not purely made of salt, but instead is mixed with “fillers” that are cheaper than salt. The next steps are to conduct field tests on the efficacy of K. prostrata and the tolerance of S. juncea in the field.