Open AccessEffects of Nursery Irrigation on Postplanting Root Dynamics of Lotus creticus in Semiarid Field Conditions
Author(s) -
J.A. Franco,
V. Cros,
S. Bañón,
Alberto González,
J. M. Abrisqueta
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
hortscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.518
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2327-9834
pISSN - 0018-5345
DOI - 10.21273/hortsci.37.3.525
Subject(s) - irrigation , shoot , biology , horticulture , lotus , agronomy , botany
The influence of two irrigation treatments during nursery production on the post-transplant development of Lotus creticus subsp. cytisoides was studied. The treatments lasted 96 days and consisted of irrigating 2 days/week with a total of 2.3 L of water per plant over the whole nursery period (T-2) or irrigating six days per week with a total of 7 L of water per plant (T-6). T-2 plants had greater root length: shoot length ratio and higher percentage of brown roots, an indicator of more resistance to post-transplant stress. Minirhizotrons revealed more active root growth in the surface soil of the T-2 plants, although the plants of both treatments rapidly colonized the whole soil depth studied (0-160 cm deep). T-2 plants had greater stem length growth per unit of soil area covered.