Agriculture & Food, Volume 8, 2020

Abstract: The impact of heavy metals on the growth and development of cabbage plants (Brassica oleracea L.) variety Silviana, patented by Vegetable Research and Development Station Bacău, was studied in this paper. The experiment was focused on soil contaminated with different concentrations of Copper (20, 100, 250, 500 mg/kg soil) and Cadmium (1, 3, 5, 10 mg/kg soil) and after approximately six weeks the dynamics of plant growth and development was measured. The main parameters that were investigated were: length of a plant (cm), length of the plant root (cm), number of leaves per plant and fresh and dry weight of a plant (g). The results obtained demonstrated that the variety of cabbage plants Silviana had different responses highly related to the concentrations of the studied heavy metals. The maximum value of plant and root length was registered on V7 treated with 3 mg Cd / kg soil (46,86 cm respectively 15,86 cm). The average number of leaves per plant is higher on variants treated with Cd and in control compared to plants grown on the soil treated with Cu. The average weight of plants it's higher also in V7 treated with 3 mg Cd / kg soil compared with control while the lower weight of plants was registered in V2 variant - soil treated with 100 mg Cu / kg soil (1,023 g).