Restricted Rooting Decreases Tillering and Growth of Winter Wheat¹

Abstract

Winter wheat [Trificum aestivum(L.) em Thell. cv. Stephens] seedling growth and development were observed for plants grown in a greenhouse in 1.65 × 10 ‒4m3or 3.40 × 10 ‒3m3of potting soil to determine the effect of restricted root development on plant growth with adequate water and minerals supplied. Plants grown in a smaller volume of soil were significantly reduced in size as measured by number of leaves and culms/plant, main stem height, and final dry weight/plant. These results suggest that confining roots to a small volume of rooting medium will in itself limit coordination of plant growth in an otherwise suitable environment.

Interactive effects of ozone and soil volume on Plantago major

“…The effects of growing plants in small pots has been extensively investigated for arable and horticultural crops (Carmi & Heuer, 1981;Carmi et al, 1983;Peterson et al, 1984;Dubik, Krized & Stimart, 1990). In many of these studies it is unclear whether reduced growth occurred as a result of deficiency of water or nutrients, or was due to changes in the production of plant growth regulators.…”

“…Although it is well known that root restriction may affect growth and physiology (Carmi et al, 1983;Peterson et al, 1984;McConnaughay & Bazzaz, 1991), the effect on response to ozone has not been investigated. Given the effects of ozone, particularly alteration of resource allocation, it is likely that there will be some interaction which would be of significance to the herbaceous plant species that usually grow in compacted or shallow soils.…”

Evaluation of the FAO Aqua-Crop model for Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)on the eastern Algeria under semi-arid conditions

“…Water stress may affect the growth of wheat, but the effects are small when stress occurs in the early stages than when it occurs in the late vegetative phase and during grain filling (Abayomi and Wright, 1999).Water stress during GS1 may increase the phyllochron of bread and durum wheat (Krenzer et al, 1991;Simane et al, 1993), but leaf expansion is most sensitive to water stress (Acevedo et al, 1971) and leaf growth can be drastically reduced at leaf water potentials of -0.7 to -1.2 MPa (Eastham et al, 1984). Tillering is also very sensitive to water stress being almost halved if conditions are dry enough (Peterson et al, 1984;Rickman et al, 1983). As a result, leaf area index development is the most affected physiological process during this stage.…”

Dry-matter partitioning and leaf area of winter wheat grown in a long-term fallow tillage comparisons in the US Central Great Plains

“…The soil environment has an influence, not only on root development, but also on top growth (Barraclough, 1984;Bennie et al, 1987;Peterson et al, 1984;Wilhelm and Mielke, 1988). Peterson et al (1984) reported that use of smaller pots (0.17 1 vs. 3.40 1) to grow winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in a glass-house experiment resulted in reduced leaf number, leaf size, tiller number, main stem height, and plant dry matter even if plants were supplied with adequate water and nutrients. Wilhelm and Mielke (1988) found that soil bulk density and the presence of /98/$ -see front matter 0 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.…”