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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Energy efficiency of greenhouse cut chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) may be
increased by breeding. In addition to breeding for cultivars with a shorter reaction time at suboptimal temperatures,
an alternative approach would be to develop cultivars that are heavier at suboptimal temperatures so that they could
be grown at a higher plant density, enhancing the production per unit area. Therefore, the combined effect of
temperature and plant density on growth and development of four cut chrysanthemum cultivars was investigated in
three greenhouse experiments, carried out in different seasons. For growth-related traits, no interactions between
temperature and cultivar were found, limiting the possibilities for breeding. At suboptimal temperatures, growth rate
early in the cultivation period decreased as a consequence of a lower light interception resulting from a lower specific
leaf area. Thus a higher dry mass production at lower temperature could only be explained by a longer cultivation
time. Temperature also influenced external quality, but these effects were cultivar dependent. For instance,
temperature affected the slope of the positive linear relationship between total dry mass and number of flowers,
reducing number of flowers at low temperature for the same plant dry mass. It is concluded that there are possibilities
for breeding for suboptimal temperature-tolerant cultivars.
Description
Keywords
Energy efficiency Growth rate Leaf area index Light use efficiency Flower number Flower size
Pedagogical Context
Citation
"Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science". ISSN 0003-1062. 134: 1 (2009) 31–40
Publisher
American Society for Horticultural Science