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Soil Moisture and Temperature Effects on Growth and Soluble Carbohydrates of Orchardgrass Dactylis glomerata)¹

Orchardgrass plants were grown at soil moisture levels of 10 to 30, 40 to 60, and 80 to 100% of available water in growth chambers set at 24-18 C and 35-29 C day-night temperatures. Plants from each treatment were harvested at 3, 7, 12, and 18, days after start of the moisure regimes. Final yields were twice as great for the high as for the low moisture level. Yield at 35 C was about 1,/2 as much as at 24 C. Increases in tiller numbers were favored by the 24 C temperature and high moisture level. No new tillers were produced at 35 C. Increases in tiller weight were similar at 24 and 35 C, but were much less at the low than at the high soil moisture level. Moisture stress increased soluble carbohydrate in stem bases. Growth rate and soluble carbohydrate content were inversely related. Moisture stress, expressed as percentage of dry matter in the fresh material, was directly related to soluble carbohydrate content. It is concluded that the buildup of soluble carbohydrate under moisture stress is due to a greater reduction in utilization than in synthesis of photosynthetic products.

Key Words: Tillering • Dry matter percentage

² Associate Professor, University of Georgia, and Professor of Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, respectively.

Received for publication November 25, 1968.