Development, growth, and flower production of cut sunflower under tropical, subtropical, and temperate environments
摘要
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is globally recognized as a popular cut flower, with an annual developmental cycle influenced primarily by temperature and photoperiod. To assess the response of field grown cut sunflower in tropical, subtropical, and temperate environments, 28 genotypes of cut sunflower were tested in field trials conducted during 4 years (2020– 2023) in different locations from Northern to Southern Brazil and in the Tuscany region, Italy. These trials provided a large and robust dataset containing results of the duration (in days and in °C day) of total developmental cycle, vegetative and reproductive phases, final leaf number (FLN), leaf number at R1 stage (LN at R1), number of leaves still to appear after R1 stage [FLN – (LN at R1)], phyllochron (°C day leaf), leaf area index (LAI), plant height (cm), capitulum diameter (cm) and stem diameter (cm). The dataset was divided into three environments (tropical, subtropical, and temperate) and relationships were applied by linear regressions. Results showed that cut sunflower genotypes used in this study are well adapted to tropical, subtropical, and temperate environments, despite the variations provided by different climates. In general, it was possible to establish the following relationship: the longer the total developmental cycle, the greater the LN at R1, the higher the FLN, and higher the plant height. The novelty of this study is the response of several cut sunflower in three major climates worldwide (tropical, subtropical and temperate) that provides a basis for futures studies by identifying significant patterns that influence their development, growth, and flower production.