The effect of temperature, variety and age on the response of Saccharum spp. to applied gibberellic acid

Abstract

The effects of gibberellic acid (GA) on the growth of Saccharurn spp. was determined for I-month-old plants from three varieties and 6-month-old plants of one variety grown at four temperatures (35, 29, 23, and 17°C) and over an 8 week period. GA treatment increased stalk length, fresh weight, and fibre and sugar contents, decreased leaf area and leaf weight, but had no effect on node number. The magnitude of the response differed with variety, age of plant, and temperature of growth. Young plants responded relatively more at low temperatures, whilst older plants tended to exhibit greater responses at higher temperatures.