Abstract
To maximise the throughput of novel, high-throughput phenotyping platforms, many researchers have utilised smaller pot sizes to increase the number of biological replicates that can be grown in spatially limited controlled environments. This may confound plant development through a process known as “pot binding”, particularly in larger species including potato ( Solanum tuberosum ), and under water-restricted conditions. We aimed to investigate the water availability hypothesis of pot binding, which predicts that small pots have insufficient water holding capacities to prevent drought stress between irrigation periods, in potato. Two cultivars of potato were grown in small (5 L) and large (20 L) pots, were kept under polytunnel conditions, and were subjected to three irrigation frequencies: every other day, daily, and twice daily. Plants were phenotyped with two Phenospex PlantEye F500s and canopy and tuber fresh mass and dry matter were measured. Increasing irrigation frequency from every other day to daily was associated with a significant increase in fresh tuber yield, but only in large pots. This suggests a similar level of drought stress occurred between these treatments in the small pots, supporting the water availability hypothesis of pot binding. Further increasing irrigation frequency to twice daily was still not sufficient to increase yields in small pots but it caused an insignificant increase in yield in the larger pots, suggesting some pot binding may be occurring in large pots under daily irrigation. Canopy temperatures were significantly higher under each irrigation frequency in the small pots compared to large pots, which strongly supports the water availability hypothesis as higher canopy temperatures are a reliable indicator of drought stress in potato. Digital phenotyping was found to be less accurate for larger plants, probably due to a higher degree of self-shading. The research demonstrates the need to define the optimum pot size and irrigation protocols required to completely prevent pot binding and ensure drought treatments are not inadvertently applied to control plants.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing irrigation frequency from every other day to daily significantly increased fresh tuber yield in large pots only.
- Taxon
- potato
Solanum tuberosumt0 - Treatment
- Increasing irrigation frequency from every other day to dailye1
- Outcome
- fresh tuber yielde1
- Direction
- increasee1
- Qualifier
- only in large potse1
- Comparator
- every other daye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Increasing irrigation frequency from every other day to daily was associated with a significant increase in fresh tuber yield, but only in large pots”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing irrigation frequency to twice daily was not sufficient to increase yield in small pots.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosumt0
- Treatment
- Further increasing irrigation frequency to twice dailye3
- Outcome
- yieldse3
- Direction
- not sufficient to increasee3
- Qualifier
- in small potse3
- Comparator
- dailye3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“Further increasing irrigation frequency to twice daily was still not sufficient to increase yields in small pots but it caused an insignificant increase in yield in the larger pots”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing irrigation frequency to twice daily caused an insignificant increase in yield in large pots.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosumt0
- Treatment
- Further increasing irrigation frequency to twice dailye3
- Outcome
- yielde3
- Direction
- increasee3
- Qualifier
- in the larger potse3
- Comparator
- dailye3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“Further increasing irrigation frequency to twice daily was still not sufficient to increase yields in small pots but it caused an insignificant increase in yield in the larger pots”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Canopy temperatures were significantly higher in small pots than in large pots under each irrigation frequency.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosumt0
- Treatment
- small potse4
- Outcome
- Canopy temperaturese4
- Direction
- highere4
- Qualifier
- under each irrigation frequencye4
- Comparator
- large potse4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e4“Canopy temperatures were significantly higher under each irrigation frequency in the small pots compared to large pots”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Digital phenotyping was less accurate for larger potato plants.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosumt0
- Treatment
- larger plantse5
- Outcome
- Digital phenotypinge5
- Direction
- less accuratee5
- Qualifier
- probably due to a higher degree of self-shadinge5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“Digital phenotyping was found to be less accurate for larger plants, probably due to a higher degree of self-shading”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The research shows the need to define optimum pot size and irrigation protocols to prevent pot binding in potato.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosumt0
- Outcome
- optimum pot size and irrigation protocolse6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e6“The research demonstrates the need to define the optimum pot size and irrigation protocols required to completely prevent pot binding”
t0“drought stress in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)”
The same questions in other papers
irrigation · yield · Solanum tuberosum (potato)Results differ
74 papers in the same direction as this paper · 16 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- no effect
- negative
88 papers more in this group
See all 92 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.