Abstract
Height control is important to produce compact vegetable transplants that are suitable for shipping and transplanting. Although abscisic acid (ABA) inhibits stem elongation, it can also induce other growth modifications. To optimize its application timing for effective height control, we examined age-dependent sensitivity of various growth variables to ABA in diploid ‘Summer Flavor 800’ and triploid ‘Summer Sweet 5244’ watermelon [ Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai]. Seedlings were sprayed once with 1.9 m m ABA at 25, 18, or 11 days before transplanting (DBT) or twice with 0.95 m m ABA at 25 and 18 DBT. The application rate was 0.55 mg ABA per plant with a spray volume of 0.61 L·m −2 (1.1 mL/plant). Only the single-spray treatment at 25 DBT (cotyledon stage) suppressed plant height by inhibiting petiole elongation. This effect was similar in both cultivars with 13% to 14% reductions at the transplanting stage compared with the untreated control. Undesirable growth modifications were also induced by ABA. In both cultivars, all ABA treatments caused 16% to 23% shoot biomass reductions mainly by inhibiting leaf expansion. Additionally, ABA treatments reduced stem diameter and root biomass in ‘Summer Flavor 800’. The double-spray treatment had similar growth-modulating effects as the single-spray treatments, except that it induced cotyledon abscission in ‘Summer Flavor 800’. These results suggest that although ABA applied at the cotyledon stage can reduce watermelon transplant height, the benefit is limited because of overall growth reductions, which can occur regardless of application timing. On the other hand, in triploid ‘Summer Sweet 5244’, moderate shoot growth delay by ABA may be of value as a growth-holding strategy when transplanting is delayed because of inclement weather at the time of field establishment. Importantly, field evaluations demonstrated that the growth modulation by ABA is only transient with no negative impact on marketable yield and fruit quality.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Only a single ABA spray at 25 days before transplanting (cotyledon stage) suppressed watermelon plant height, by inhibiting petiole elongation.
- Taxon
- Watermelon
Citrullus lanatust0 - Treatment
- single-spray treatment at 25 DBTe0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- suppressede0
- Qualifier
- inhibiting petiole elongatione0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Only the single-spray treatment at 25 DBT (cotyledon stage) suppressed plant height by inhibiting petiole elongation”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
The single-spray ABA treatment at 25 DBT reduced plant height by 13% to 14% in both cultivars at transplanting compared with the untreated control.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- single-spray treatment at 25 DBTe0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- reductionse0
- Value
- 13% to 14%e0
- Qualifier
- similar in both cultivarse0
- Comparator
- untreated controle0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Only the single-spray treatment at 25 DBT (cotyledon stage) suppressed plant height by inhibiting petiole elongation. This effect was similar in both cultivars with 13% to 14% reductions at the transplanting stage compared with the untreated control”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
All ABA treatments caused 16% to 23% shoot biomass reductions in both cultivars, mainly by inhibiting leaf expansion.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- all ABA treatmentse0
- Outcome
- shoot biomasse0
- Direction
- reductionse0
- Value
- 16% to 23%e0
- Qualifier
- mainly by inhibiting leaf expansione0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In both cultivars, all ABA treatments caused 16% to 23% shoot biomass reductions mainly by inhibiting leaf expansion”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
ABA treatments reduced stem diameter and root biomass in cultivar Summer Flavor 800.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Material
- Summer Flavor 800e0
- Treatment
- ABA treatmentse0
- Outcome
- stem diameter and root biomasse0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ABA treatments reduced stem diameter and root biomass in ‘Summer Flavor 800’”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
The double-spray ABA treatment induced cotyledon abscission in Summer Flavor 800, unlike the single-spray treatments.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Material
- Summer Flavor 800e0
- Treatment
- double-spray treatmente0
- Outcome
- cotyledon abscissione0
- Direction
- inducede0
- Comparator
- single-spray treatmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The double-spray treatment had similar growth-modulating effects as the single-spray treatments, except that it induced cotyledon abscission in ‘Summer Flavor 800’”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
The double-spray ABA treatment had growth-modulating effects similar to the single-spray treatments.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- double-spray treatmente0
- Outcome
- growth-modulating effectse0
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede0
- Comparator
- single-spray treatmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The double-spray treatment had similar growth-modulating effects as the single-spray treatments”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
Although ABA at the cotyledon stage can reduce watermelon transplant height, the benefit is limited by overall growth reductions regardless of application timing.
- Taxon
- watermelonCitrullus lanatuse0
- Treatment
- ABA applied at the cotyledon stagee0
- Outcome
- the benefit is limitede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“although ABA applied at the cotyledon stage can reduce watermelon transplant height, the benefit is limited because of overall growth reductions, which can occur regardless of application timing”
Claim · model-written summary
In triploid Summer Sweet 5244, moderate shoot growth delay by ABA may be of value as a growth-holding strategy when transplanting is delayed by weather.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Material
- Summer Sweet 5244e0
- Treatment
- ABAe0
- Outcome
- moderate shoot growth delay by ABA may be of value as a growth-holding strategye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in triploid ‘Summer Sweet 5244’, moderate shoot growth delay by ABA may be of value as a growth-holding strategy when transplanting is delayed because of inclement weather at the time of field establishment”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
In field evaluations the growth modulation by ABA was only transient.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Outcome
- growth modulation by ABA is only transiente0
- Setting
- field evaluationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“field evaluations demonstrated that the growth modulation by ABA is only transient with no negative impact on marketable yield and fruit quality”
t0“Watermelon”
Claim · model-written summary
ABA had no negative impact on marketable yield and fruit quality in field evaluations.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- ABAe0
- Outcome
- marketable yield and fruit qualitye0
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede0
- Qualifier
- no negative impacte0
- Setting
- field evaluationse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“field evaluations demonstrated that the growth modulation by ABA is only transient with no negative impact on marketable yield and fruit quality”
t0“Watermelon”
The same questions in other papers
(+)-abscisic acid · quality: postharvest · Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- positive
(+)-abscisic acid · growth · Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
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1 paper more in this group
See all 5 papers →transplanting · growth · Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)Positive and negative results
7 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
7 papers more in this group
See all 11 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.