2.4. Determination of plant growth
Three plants were harvested per treatment, and the roots were
rinsed in deionized water. The plants were carefully blotted with
tissue paper. In the short-term experiment, the plants were dissected
into shoot and root. In the long-term experiment, only the
plant shoot was harvested. The part above the grafted union was
regarded as the “shoot”, and the part below was the “root” in the
grafted plants. For the ungrafted plants, the part above the cotyledon
node was regarded as the “shoot”, and the part below was the
“root”. The shoots and roots were placed in a forced air oven at
105 ◦C for 15 min and then at 70 ◦C for 3 days to determine the dry
weights of the shoot, root, and whole plant (shoot and root).