ROOT TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON APPARENT RESISTANCE TO WATER IN THREE CUCURBIT SP.

Young melons, cucumbers and squash plants in pots were grown under uniform conditions and exposed for 3–4 days to 4 root temperatures: 11, 17, 22 and 27°C. Measurements were carried out on whole transpiring plants and exuding detopped root systems.

Higher root temperature resulted in an increase in plant growth, transpiration and exudation rates; leaf water potentials and stomata conductance were also raised at the higher soil temperatures.

Calculated apparent root resistance for the whole plants and the detopped root systems indicated a reduction in resistance with elevation of temperature.
This effect was strongest in the lower temperatures.

It was also found that melons were most sensitive to low root temperature.

Symposium on Water Supply and Irrigation

A. Meiri, Z. Plaut, I. Rilska

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1979.89.23