Effect of temperature and water variables on the juvenile growth of lucerne and red clover

Abstract

AbstractPlants of three cultivars of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) and of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) were grown at four levels each of water availability and temperature in all combinations to evaluate these factors as determinants of plant growth. Plants grew in conventional plant growth chambers from age 2 to 4 weeks with the roots held between layers of polyester cloths that held a volume of nutrient solution which was adjusted at 24‐h intervals by flushing and blotting the cloths. The experimental design consisted of two growth chamber runs at each of four temperatures. Within each run, water treatments and the species‐cultivar combination were arranged In four replicates of a split‐plot design with water treatment as whole plot and species‐cultivars as subplots.Plant response variables over all treatments were significant (P < 0·05) for temperature and water for shoot weights, root weights, shoot/root ratios and number of roots. Cultivars within species had no significant difference in response lo the treatments, but species differences were significant for alt response variables except shoot/root ratio.