Abstract

The influence of 24 h mean air temperature (18.3, 20.6, 23.9 and 25.8 degrees C) and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF; 0.6, 2.1, 3.7 and 4.7 mol m(-2) d(-1)) on the growth cycles of vegetative growth in Ilex x meserveae ('Blue Princess' S.Y. Hu) was investigated. Plants propagated from top cuttings were grown in greenhouse compartments. The number of unfolded leaves was recorded continuously throughout the experiment. A modified sine function was fitted to collected data and the values for the amplitude and frequency of the growth curves were analysed. The sine function was tested as a method to evaluate the influence of climate on periodically flushing species. Both amplitude and frequency were significantly influenced by air temperature and PPF. The highest frequency of flushing was found at 23.9 degrees C and 3.7 mol m(-2) d(-1). The function resulted generally in a good fit to collected data with R-2 values above 0.9. Growth curves of all individual plants were categorised with respect to their growth pattern as poor synchronisation within the treatments did not allow analysis of the mean values of the growth curves. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Keywords

growth analysis; rhythmic growth; sine function

Published in

Scientia Horticulturae
2005, volume: 104, number: 3, pages: 325-337
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Authors' information