Saltwater intrusion into coastal areas is a major problem that reduces acreage under vegetable production. Cultivating salt-tolerant varieties is one of the approaches to overcome this problem. The long-term goal of this project is to screen and identify salt-tolerant watermelon germplasm. We assessed the impact of salinity stress from natural brackish water collected in Charleston, South Carolina (32o47’38” N and 80o3’25” W), on the growth morphology of four watermelon cultivars to identify one discriminatory concentration to be used for evaluating hundreds of watermelon accessions available in USDA-ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network. Watermelon plants were hydroponically grown in a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system at various EC levels (natural brackish water diluted with de-ionized water to generate 5.5, 10, 12, 14, and 19 dS/m and control, 0 dS/m) and plant growth and shoot morphology were monitored. All cultivars failed to withstand salinity stress at 19 dS/m. Surprisingly watermelon cultivars tolerated fairly high levels of salinity (5.5-14 dS/m ⁓3,530 - 8,960 ppm salt concentration) with inhibited growth. Increasing EC levels correlated with decreased growth parameters such as plant height, leaf number, and shoot fresh and dry weight. Chlorophyll content and electrolyte leakage values increased with higher brackish water concentrations, peaking at 14 dS/m. These values were notably elevated, with chlorophyll content and electrolyte leakage being 5 and 2 times higher than the control, respectively. Cultivar Sugar Baby had significantly greater shoot length, chlorophyll content, and electrolyte leakage compared to other cultivars (Crimson Sweet, Charleston Grey, and Black Diamond). The other growth parameters were similar across all cultivars. Further research to identify an optimal EC between 14 and 19 dS/m for use in large-scale evaluation of germplasm accessions will be needed.
