Abstract: A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of different soil water conditions on the growth and physiological characteristics of three years old Ficus microcarpa seedlings, aimed to provide an optimum water management mode for the cultivation of this horticultural species. Five treatments were installed, i.e., 90%-100%, 70%-80%, 50%-60%, 30%-40%, and 10%-20% of maximum soil water content. With the decrease of the water content, the seedling height, crown diameter, and root tuber biomass decreased significantly, leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, embrane permeability, and proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents had significant increase, leaf photosynthetic rate (P_n) and transpiration rate (T_r) decreased significantly, and leaf water use efficiency (WUE) had a significant increasing trend in the treatments with lower soil water content. No significant differences were observed in the minimum fluorescence yield in light-adapted state (F_o) and the quantum yield of PSII photochemistry in dark-adapted state (F_v/F_m) among the five treatments. In treatment 70%-80% of maximum soil water content, the leaf membrane permeability, SOD and POD activities, and proline and MDA contents were the lowest while the P_n was highest, resulting in the quickest seedling growth and the largest increments of plant height, crown diameter, and root tuber biomass, suggesting that this treatment could be the best water management mode for the cultivation of F. microcarpa.

Key words: Container seedling, Quality, Index