Sowing date and photoperiod effects on leaf appearance in field-grown wheat

Abstract

Rate of leaf appearance is a characteristic that can impact on the rate of development of a crop canopy. For wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), it is generally thought to be constant within a sowing date, but to vary among sowing dates. Such variation has been variously attributed to differences in the rate of change of photoperiod, the absolute photoperiod, or the mean air temperature. This study was undertaken to provide further information on the photoperiod and temperature effects on rate of leaf appearance in wheat. Field studies were conducted at Elora, Ontario at five sowing dates under natural and extended (20 h) photoperiod conditions. Two genotypes each of spring and winter wheat were grown under 0 and 150 kg ha−1 nitrogen fertilization. The results indicated that variations in rate of leaf appearance were not due to rate of change in photoperiod or absolute photoperiod at emergence. The change in rate of leaf appearance during a growth cycle was constant when mean air temperature during growth varied in a narrow range (less than 10 °C), but varied when there were wider ranges (over 10 °C) of temperature variation. Rate of leaf appearance was lower for the September seeding, at which time temperatures were around 5 °C, but were quite similar for May, June, July and August seedings even though temperatures ranged from approximately 15 °C (May) to 23 °C (June). The results suggested that the leaf appearance rate–temperature response curve is curvilinear, as found in some growth room studies, and supported work indicating that the phyllochron would depend on the temperature at the time of measurement. Key words: Wheat, photoperiod, temperature, nitrogen, sowing date, leaf appearance rate