Response of alfalfa seedling plants to high levels of chloride‐salts

This paper discusses the response of seedling plants of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) to various salts, and the damage caused by high application rates of the chloride‐salts under greenhouse conditions. KC1 was used in most experiments. Chloride damage increased as rate of C1‐ applied was increased, and as temperature or soil moisture were increased. Light intensity had little influence. Plants exposed first to non‐lethal levels of Cl‐ developed tolerance to higher rates applied later. Such information is needed in order to establish a screening procedure to identify salt‐tolerant genotypes of alfalfa. These points are elaborated further in the conclusions section of this paper.