Abstract
Moringa oleifera trees are naturally found in tropical climates around the world and therefore the extent of their adaptability to cooler climates was the main objective of this study. A total of 264 trees, made up of an equal number hardened and non-hardened seedlings were randomly assigned to three temperature-controlled greenhouses each with a different fluctuating night/day temperature regime (TR) namely; 10/20°C ± 2°C, 15/25°C ± 2°C and 20/30°C ± 2°C. During the 32-week trial period, biweekly measurements of tree height, stem diameter and leaf area estimates of each individual tree within all three temperature regimes (TRS) were taken. The 20/30°C TR was the most favorable towards overall tree growth, as the highest values were obtained across most measured parameters. The increase in temperature resulted in growth rate increases of over 650% between the 10/20°C and 20/30°C and over 250% between the 10/20°C and 15/25°C night/day TRS. The hardening-off pre-treatment increased both final tree height and stem diameter, resulting in increases of 3.09X (10/20°C), 1.44X (15/25°C) and 1.23X (20/30°C) compared to their non-hardened off counterparts. The average tree leaf area increases followed a similar trend in both tree height and stem diameter, but expressed more volatility at the higher TRS. Although the average leaf area increased with the increase in TR and remained higher for the duration of the trial, cycles of regular leaf drop and renewed flushes were prevalent at both the 15/25°C and 20/30°C temperature treatments.
Highlights
Moringa oleifera Lam. known as Horseradish tree is one of 14 different species belonging to the family Moringaceae
Amongst the three temperature regimes (TRS) investigated in this trial, the 20/30 ̊C temperature regime (TR) clearly was the most favorable for tree growth, with a final average tree height of 1970 mm and stem diameter of 28.4 mm
The effect of the fertilizer application during week 16 was responsible for the sudden change in growth line gradient. It is noticeable how fertilizer use efficiency varied between the three TRS, while the increase in growth rate was highest at the 20/30 ̊C regime, the 10/20 ̊C regime revealed only a slight increase in response to the fertilizer application (Figure 1)
Summary
Moringa oleifera Lam. known as Horseradish tree is one of 14 different species belonging to the family Moringaceae. Indigenous to the sub-Himalayan regions in northwestern India, it is currently found in numerous countries situated in the tropical and sub-tropical regions across Africa, South East Asia and South America (Jahn, 1988) [1]. The tree bears 20 to 30 cm long fruit that once mature, change colour from green to brown revealing numerous round or triangular seeds with three papery wings (Folkard, et al, 1999) [2]. Amongst the most common uses for M. oleifera such as animal forage, nutrition, medicine and water purification, the seed contains a multipurpose, non-drying oil. M. oleifera is grown throughout numerous African countries, no evidence of large-scale commercial plantings have been reported, possibly as a result of the limited scientific data that is currently available on both the propagation and cultivation of the tree
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