Effects of varying air and soil moisture on the water relations and growth of sugar beet

Abstract

SUMMARYSugar beet were grown for short periods with different amounts of moisture in the soil and air. Growing plants in wet soil (23 % moisture on dry weight) compared with dry soil (15% moisture) increased growth of the shoots and roots and plant dry weights by 15% in young plants and 10% in mature plants. Growing plants in wet air containing 10.9 g m‐3 of water (equivalent to a saturation deficit of 2.5 mb) compared with dry air containing 6.4 g m‐3 of water (saturation deficit = 8.5 mb) increased the dry weights of both young and mature plants by 8%, mostly by increasing the sizes of their storage roots. Wet air and wet soil increased the net assimilation rates of both young and mature plants. Wet soil, but not wet air, increased leaf areas of young plants by accelerating leaf expansion, and both increased the leaf area of mature plants by slowing senescence of the older leaves. Wet soil increased the water potential of the leaves of both young and mature plants and, by doing so, increased their stomatal conductances and rates of photosynthesis. Wet air also increased stomatal conductances and rates of photosynthesis of leaves of plants of both ages, but without changing their water potentials. Stomatal conductances and photosynthetic rates were greater for young leaves than mature on the same plant and at the same water potential. It is suggested that at certain stages in the crops growth photosynthetic efficiency could be increased by applying additional water as a mist to increase the moisture content of the air around the crop.