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Factors Affecting the Development of Flue‐Cured Tobacco Grown in Artificial Environments. III. Morphological Behavior of Leaves in Simulated Temperature, Light‐Duration, and Nutrition Progressions During Growth 1
Author(s) -
Raper C. D.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1971.00021962006300060008x
Subject(s) - curing of tobacco , stalk , nitrogen , nutrient , regression analysis , horticulture , biology , botany , agronomy , mathematics , chemistry , statistics , ecology , organic chemistry
The growth environment of a plant determines the ultimate expression of many characteristics of development. Among other environmental variables, a plant growing in the field encounters seasonal progressions of temperature, daylength, and nutrient supply. To determine if these natural, seasonal progressions are essential for reproducing “normal” field growth of flue‐cured tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacurn L. ‘Coker 319’) in controlled‐enviromnent facilities, simplified simulations of temperature, light‐duration, and nitrogen and potassium nutrition were established in controlled‐enviromnent rooms. Regression‐descriptors plots of regression equations with leaf‐stalk position as the independent variable) of size, shape, and specific weight of mature leaves from plants grown under combinations of these simulated progressions and constant temperature, light‐duration, and nutrition regimes were evaluated relative to characteristic regression‐descriptors derived from field grown plants. A seasonal progression of temperature and progressive reductions of nitrogen and potassimn supply are critically involved in determining the physical attributes of leaves characteristic of “normal”, field‐grown tobacco. Combined with a continuous daily light‐duration of 9 hours, the simulated progressions of temperature and nutrition most nearly facsimilated a “normal” leaf‐size ordering and resulted in the least disruption of “normal” variations of leaf shape and specific leaf weight due to stalk position.