This week, several regions of Indiana experienced excessive rainfall due to the remnants of Hurricane Beryl passing through the state. The heavy rain caused flooding in some vegetable fields. When soil water levels surpass optimal requirements, oxygen is depleted, leading to waterlogging stress for the plants.
Figure 1 displays the varied responses of different crops to waterlogging stress. The demonstration includes tomato, eggplant, broccoli, cantaloupe, watermelon, and summer squash. For each crop, the three plants on the left side of the picture were subjected to waterlogging for three days by submerging the pots in water. In contrast, the three plants on the right side grew under optimal conditions during the same period.
Figure 1. Vegetable crops’ responses to waterlogging stress. For each crop, the three plants on the left side of the picture experienced waterlogging for three days; the three plants on the right side of the picture did not and grew under optimal condition over the same period.
In this observation, we first noticed stressed tomato plants wilting after one day of applying the stress condition. Stressed broccoli plants wilted in two days, and stressed watermelon wilted on the third day. By the end of the treatment, cantaloupe, summer squash, and eggplant did not wilt. However, the growth of cantaloupe and summer squash was stunted under the stress conditions, while no symptoms were observed on the eggplants.
In addition to wilting and stunted growth, we also noticed yellowing leaves on the stressed plants, particularly on tomato and summer squash. Furthermore, we found that tomato plants began to grow adventitious roots at the end of the three-day stress treatment, which is also considered plants’ response to the stress condition (Figure 2). We will follow up with another article discussing plant recovery from waterlogging stress.
Figure 2. Tomato grows adventitious roots under waterlogging stress.