A Comparative Study on the Leaf Characteristics and Root Vigor of Bowl Lotus under Hydroponics and Soil Culture

[Objective] The experiment aimed to study the growth characteristics of hydroponic bowl lotus. [Method] The lotus variety Hongxia was chosen as the experimental material. Two treatments, hydroponics and soil culture were set to measure their photosynthetic indices, chlorophyll content and root vigor, and to observe their leaf tissue structure and stomatal characteristics. [Result] The findings indicated that there are no differences in the leaf physiological indices between bowl lotus under hydroponics and soil culture, while the leaf stomata of hydroponic bowl lotus is bigger and its amount is larger than that of soil-culture bowl lotus. At the same time, the ratio of the palisade tissue thickness to spongy tissue thickness is small,and its leaf tissue structure is loose. The root vigor of hydroponic bowl lotus reached its summit earlier, then began to drop. Whereas, the root activity of soil-culture lotus sustained increasing, with vigorous growth. [Conclusion] Therefore, it indicated that hydroponic bowl lotus can adapt to the aquatic-culture environment well and quickly, meanwhile, it also enters into its aging period quickly and its growth cycle gets shorter.

Carry forw ard Soil and Water Ecological Culture and Build Rich and Beautiful Home

The most directly expressions of the relationships between human and nature lie in the relationships between human and water,human and soil（ stone）,human and vegetation（ plant）. Water,soil and vegetation are interdependent,restricted coexisted and developed from one another,which are integrated and correlated. The history of human＇s survival and development on the earth is one related continuously with water,soil（ stone）,vegetation（ plant）,which involves with the protection and reasonable utilization of water,soil and vegetation resources（ also known as soil and water ecological resources）,and it has summarized and accumulated abundant culture concerned with the harmonious coexistence of human with water,soil and vegetation,which is the soil and water ecological culture. All peoples of China have accumulated rich soil and water ecological culture in the long term,such as integrated view of nature,nature admiring,nature praising,nature protection and reasonable utilization of nature. It is especially important and urgent in the current times to carry forward soil and water ecological culture.

Influences of Quinclorac on Culturable Microorganisms and Soil Respiration in Flooded Paddy Soil

Objective To investigate the potential effects of herbicide quinclorac (3,7-dichloro-8-quinoline-carboxylic) on the culturable microorganisms in flooded paddy soil. Methods Total soil aerobic bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi were counted by a 10-fold serial dilution plate technique. Numbers of anaerobic fermentative bacteria (AFB), denitrifying bacteria (DNB) and hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria (HPAB) were numerated by three-tube anaerobic most-probable-number (MPN) methods with anaerobic liquid enrichment media. The number of methanogenic bacteria (MB) and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) was determined by the rolling tube method in triplicate. Soil respiration was monitored by a 102G-type gas chromatography with a stainless steel column filled with GDX-104 and a thermal conductivity detector. Results Quinclorac concentration was an important factor affecting the populations of various culturable microorganisms. There were some significant differences in the aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. AFB and DNB between soils were supplemented with quinclorac and non-quinclorac at the early stage of incubation, but none of them was persistent. The number of fungi and DNB was increased in soil samples treated by lower than 1.33μg·g-1 dried soil, while the CFU of fungi and HPAB was inhibited in soil samples treated by higher than 1.33μg·g-1 dried soil. The population of actinomycete declined in negative proportion to the concentrations of quinclorac applied after 4 days. However, application of quinclorac greatly stimulated the growth of AFB and NFB. MB was more sensitive to quinclorac than the others, and the three soil samples with concentrations higher than 1 μg·g-1 dried soil declined significantly to less than 40% of that in the control, but the number of samples with lower concentrations of quinclorac was nearly equal to that in the control at the end of experiments. Conclusion Quinclorac is safe to the soil microorganisms when applied at normal concentrations (0.67μg·g-1).