Substrate Moisture Content Effects on Growth and Shelf Life of Angelonia angustifolia

• Main Author: Bingham, Alison
• Other Authors: Starman, Terri W.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: SMC; shelf life; Angelonia; soil moisture sensors; greenhouse production
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2012-05-11140

Wilting during shelf life is a major cause of postharvest shrink for bedding plants shipped long distances from production greenhouses to retail outlets. The objective of this research was to determine if irrigation at lower, constant substrate moisture content (SMC) during greenhouse production would be a feasible way to acclimate plants for reduced shrinkage during shelf life, while potentially conserving irrigation water. Rooted plugs of Angelonia angustifolia 'Angelface Blue' were grown in greenhouse production until a marketable stage in substrates irrigated at SMC levels of 10, 20, 30, and 40% using a controlled irrigation system. At the end of the greenhouse production stage, plants were irrigated to container capacity and subjected to a simulated shipping environment, in shipping boxes in the dark for two days. After shipping, plants were placed back in the greenhouse and watered minimally to simulate a retail environment. Data was taken at the end of each stage i.e. greenhouse production, simulated shipping, and simulated retail. Parameters measured at the end of the production stage were fresh and senesced flower number, stem number, pre-dawn and mid-day water potential, SPAD meter readings (Experiment 2), and plant height and node number segmented into vegetative, flowering, and bud area. Plant quality was observed and rated. At the end of the simulated retail stage, the same data was taken, along with fresh and dry shoot and root weight. Results indicated that as SMC decreased from 40 to 10%, plants were shorter in height, but had proportional flowering sections (Experiment 1) or more compact flowering sections (Experiment 2). The volume of water received by the 40% SMC plants was three times greater (Experiment 1) and 12 times greater (Experiment 2) than the 20% SMC plants during greenhouse production, and two times greater (Experiment 1) and nine time greater (Experiment 2) during simulated retail. Additionally, the 40% SMC plants used 15 liters (Experiment 1) and 38 liters (Experiment 2) of water during greenhouse production compared to the 20% SMC plants using only three liters in both experiments. During simulated retail the 40% SMC plants used six liters (Experiment 1) and nine liters (Experiment 2) of water while the 20% SMC plants used five liters (Experiment 1) and three liters (Experiment 2) of water. During production, mid-day water potentials decreased as the SMC levels decreased, but at the end of the simulated retail (Experiment 1), the mid-day water potentials were all the same, suggesting plants that were drought stressed during production area were acclimated to lower water levels experienced in retail settings. Overall, the 20% SMC treatment produced the best postharvest quality plant due to reduced plant height without detrimental effects on flowering. The results demonstrate that while conserving water, controlled irrigation at a medium-low SMC can produce high quality plants that have equal shelf life to those that are irrigated at high levels.