ADAPTING A PREDICTION MODEL FOR FLOWER DEVELOPMENT IN CHRYSANTHEMUM TO NEW CULTIVARS

An empirical model for prediction of flower development in chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora) in relation to temperature and irradiance has previously been developed based on data from the cultivar ‘Pert’. The model describes the rate of flower development as a function of a maximum rate, R_max, which is multiplied by a temperature function and a light function.
The aim of the present study was to see how this model could be used as a tool for describing differences in climate response between cultivars.
The aim was also to see if it was possible to use a general model for the studied cultivars.

Data were collected from experiments where six cultivars were grown at different temperature and shading regimes.
The data were used to estimate the parameters of both “cultivar specific” models and the general model.

For the “cultivar specific” model, both the temperature function and the light function gave a good fit to the data.
There was no significant difference in light function between cultivars while there were differences in the temperature function and R_max. Simulations of the “cultivar specific” models were slightly better than those of the general model.
In both cases the models slightly underestimated flower development of plants grown at 18°C.

II Modelling Plant Growth, Environmental Control and Farm Management in Protected Cultivation

L. Persson, Rolf U. Larsen

Growth model, Dendranthema grandiflora

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.456.16