Effects of Soil Amendments on the Survival, Growth and Lead Accumulation of Lycopersicum esculentum Mill, var Apollo Grown in Mine Tailings Soil

Abstract

The effect of soil amendments on the survival, growth and lead accumulation of Lycopersicum esculentum plants grown in mine tailings soil was determined. The study comprised of two experiments: the Seed Germination Toxicity Test and the Pot Experiment. L. esculentum seeds were planted in different soil treatments namely garden soil, mine tailings soil (MTS), mine tailings soil + Mykovam (MTS+M) and mine tailings soil + urea (MTS+U). The mine tailings soil was collected from Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. It was observed that L. esculentum plants grown in mine tailings soil, whether with soil amendment or not, showed poor growth performance. When compared to the plants grown in garden soil, plants grown in mine tailings soil with different soil amendments had slower growth and lower percent survival. Also, plants grown in MTS with different soil amendments were not capable of accumulating lead in their shoots from soil and thus, their enrichment coefficients were zero. It was concluded that L. esculentum may not be a good phytoaccumulator of lead. Further, soil amendments namely Mykovam and urea may improve growth of L. esculentum plants during seed germination but not until their later development.