Articles
CHANGES IN MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGY OF ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS L. AT DIFFERENT ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITIES
Article number
644_51
Pages
385 – 391
Language
English
Abstract
The use of hydroponics as an experimental tool allowed us to conveniently study storage root and bud cluster development on rhizomes of two asparagus cultivars at different stress levels.
We followed the crown development of asparagus cultivars, Jersey Giant and UC157, for 15 weeks and analyzed the possibility of plant grouping based on morphological and physiological responses to different treatments by using cluster analysis (CA). The plants were grown in hydroponics and exposed to eight different levels of electrical conductivities (EC): 1.4, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 mS cm-1. EC as high as 14 mS cm-1 resulted in comparatively low stress levels as determined by water potential measurements and appeared to indicate a high level of osmotic adjustment.
An EC in the range of 4 to 8 appeared to be optimal for asparagus growth.
Both cultivars produced the highest number of roots, buds and ferns as well as the tallest plant height and longest root length at EC 4 and 8 mS cm-1. It is suggested that small plant size at high conductivities was due to the effects of mild water stress on cell division and cell expansion while mineral nutrition limited growth at low conductivities.
Univariate analysis indicated no interaction between different conductivities and cultivar, but multivariate analysis indicated cultivar differences at both low and high conductivities.
We followed the crown development of asparagus cultivars, Jersey Giant and UC157, for 15 weeks and analyzed the possibility of plant grouping based on morphological and physiological responses to different treatments by using cluster analysis (CA). The plants were grown in hydroponics and exposed to eight different levels of electrical conductivities (EC): 1.4, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 mS cm-1. EC as high as 14 mS cm-1 resulted in comparatively low stress levels as determined by water potential measurements and appeared to indicate a high level of osmotic adjustment.
An EC in the range of 4 to 8 appeared to be optimal for asparagus growth.
Both cultivars produced the highest number of roots, buds and ferns as well as the tallest plant height and longest root length at EC 4 and 8 mS cm-1. It is suggested that small plant size at high conductivities was due to the effects of mild water stress on cell division and cell expansion while mineral nutrition limited growth at low conductivities.
Univariate analysis indicated no interaction between different conductivities and cultivar, but multivariate analysis indicated cultivar differences at both low and high conductivities.
Authors
E. Danningsih, D.J. Woolley, M.A. Nichols
Keywords
‘Jersey Giant’, ‘UC157’, chlorophyll, cluster analysis, fern water potential, hydroponics, morphology, principal component analysis
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