Effect of clay-pot irrigation on Citrullus colocynthis plant growth for arid land restoration (A case study: southeast of Iran)

Abstract This study aimed to investigate growth performance of Citrullus colocynthis plant under clay-pot irrigation to restore vegetation in abandoned farmlands of arid regions. So, in this research, the influence of clay-pot and traditional irrigation methods experimented on some growth parameters of Citrullus colocynthis plant from 2019 to 2021.The experiment had been conducted in a randomized complete block design with 5 replications. In each treatment, plant growth characteristics such as shrub length, number of seeds per fruit, number of fruits per plant, number of branches per plant, dry weight of fruit, and fruit yield were measured. The results indicate that the effect of different irrigation methods on growth characteristics under the influence of irrigation methods was significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). Also finding indicate that the amounts of water consumption were significantly different at the level of five percentage (P < 0.05) and the most appropriate irrigation method by significant increase of WUE is related to clay-pot irrigation. Based on the results of the research, the growth performance of Citrullus colocynthis plant during the second and third growing seasons significantly increased which non-irrigation conditions. Following the results, the period of growth of Citrullus Colocynthis is synchronous with the critical month (April, June, July, and September respectively) when the value of wind speed, temperature, and evaporation rate reaches its value maximum. According to the results, the implementation of clay-pot irrigation methods for the establishment of Citrullus colocynthis plant with high adaptability is a practical option to restore vegetation in abandoned farmlands of the study area.