3.1 General Plant Growth in Endosulfan
Sulfate-Contaminated Soil In non-spiked control soil, all the plants grew normally either alone or in combination for 60 days. The growth of sweet corn, cucumber, and cowpea grown in endosulfan sulfate-contaminated soil varied depending on plant species and planting regime. Sweet corn or cowpea, when grown alone or together with another plant in
endosulfan sulfate-spiked soils, appeared healthy and did not show any signs of stress during the 60-day
experimental period. Interestingly, the shoot of sweet corn was longer when the plant was grown together with
cucumber or cowpea especially on day 60. The shoot of cowpea grown in non-spiked soils was not significantly
different from that grown in endosulfan sulfate-spiked soils during the 60-day experiment. In contrast to sweet
corn or cowpea, cucumber exhibited poor growth in endosulfan sulfate-spiked soils and the plant died between
50 and 55 days of transplantation when grown either alone or together with another plant. The leaves of cucumber grown in spiked soils exhibited chlorosis and wilted. Also, the shoot of cucumber appeared short andstunted when the plant was cultivated either alone or together with another plant.On the basis of general plant growth alone, sweet corn and cowpea seemed to be more s u i t a b l e than cucumber f o r use in phytoremediation of endosulfan sulfate-contaminated
soils.