Title: Environmental regulation of flowering and growth of Cosmos atrosanguineus (Hook.) Voss
Abstract: This study investigated the factors affecting the emergence and subsequent flowering and growth of the tuberous perennial Cosmos atrosanguineus. A first experiment showed the time of emergence of overwintered plants raised from micro-propagated tubers was highly related to temperature, but not photoperiod, such that at 11.5°C shoots emerged 17 days later than those at 27.2°C. Subsequent growth was also significantly affected by temperature. Plant height doubled and flower area halved as temperature increased from 13°C to 26°C. However, the response of time to flowering from emergence to temperature was small, increasing temperature from 13°C to 21.5°C only advanced flowering by 9 days. In terms of the overall response to photoperiod, flowering was advanced by long-days; plants at a daylength of 17 h per day flowered 33 days earlier than those at 8 h per day. Photoperiod also dramatically affected plant morphology, with long photoperiods (17 h per day) leading to a greater than 7-fold increase in plant mass compared to short-days (8 h per day). The experiments described suggest that out of season forcing of Cosmos is horticulturally attainable at a relatively small cost.
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 7
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