perhaps if the pinch was made earlier the plant would have produced leaves closer to the base.
Showing posts with label pinching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pinching. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
17.11.09
two weeks after pinching the avocado's apical meristem, it is looking quite a strange plant. the combination, i suspect, of overthrowing apical dominance and increasing exposure to fluorescent light has resulted in a vegetative growth spurt. (vertical growth has been so very little over the last couple weeks.) but while i had hoped that axillary buds lower on the stem would be inspired to put forth new leaves, all the energy has gone into enlarging the existing leaves -- the higher the leaf, the higher the priority given. the result is a skinny-stemmed plant with 4 large leaves. the length of the top leaf is nearly one half of the plant's height. goodness gracious.
avo, nov 17th
gigantic avo leaf, nov 17th
perhaps if the pinch was made earlier the plant would have produced leaves closer to the base.
perhaps if the pinch was made earlier the plant would have produced leaves closer to the base.
Monday, November 2, 2009
02.11.09
the avocado's leaves have been maturing nicely.
avo plant, oct 29th
plants perceive light as a ratio of red to far red light frequencies. far red is what stimulates a plant to grow taller, while the red makes a plant grow fuller. both are important. sunlight gives a hefty range that is tough to match while growing a plant indoors. incandescent light gives primarily far red while fluorescent is rich in red. combining these types of light can make for an adequately happy indoor plant.
i am going to try to up the avo's intake of fluorescent light.
avo plant with wine for scale, nov 2nd
this afternoon i decided to attack apical dominance.
the story of the pinch:
severed apical meristem
plants perceive light as a ratio of red to far red light frequencies. far red is what stimulates a plant to grow taller, while the red makes a plant grow fuller. both are important. sunlight gives a hefty range that is tough to match while growing a plant indoors. incandescent light gives primarily far red while fluorescent is rich in red. combining these types of light can make for an adequately happy indoor plant.
i am going to try to up the avo's intake of fluorescent light.
this afternoon i decided to attack apical dominance.
the story of the pinch:
Monday, October 26, 2009
26.10.09
the avocado plant has experienced some stress recently.
like a moth to the flame, the avo's attraction to the desk lamp caused it harm. it grew so quickly that i didn't realize it could reach the lamp, and a leaf was singed.
avo, oct 26th, too much of a good thing
the other thing i've noticed is that the axillary buds (located along the stem) are either smaller or detached altogether. this must have happened just over the last few days. did they fall of on their own? have fruit flies eaten them away? i do not know. i was getting ready to make the decision to pinch, but this is causing me to hesitate.
avo stem, oct 26th, bud gone
these buds are meristematic zones! these regions are responsible for a plants growth.
the vascular cambium is the meristematic region located inside the stem and roots of the plant. it produces the xylem and phloem (which transport water/nutrients up and down the plant), and thus controls the girth of the plant. the axillary buds along the stem (from where new leaves, flowers, branches would grow) control vegetative growth. however, they are not as active as the apical meristem, located at the top of the stem. in order to stimulate vegetative growth and obtain a fuller plant, we must eliminate apical dominance. you can do this easily by cutting off the apical meristem of a young plant that has enough axillary buds.
pinching works better with certain plants over others. it is commonly practiced with basil and tomato. it is avoided with pine trees that are grown for the purpose of becoming christmas trees. the resulting adult christmas tree would require two stars (or angels), not one, to guard the highest point. but i do not know exactly how the avocado plant will respond, especially since its axillary buds appear to be damaged.
i will investigate this further before acting. notice how spindly it is:
avo, oct 26th, next to bottle 'o red for scale
(typical 750ml bottle, but please note protruding cork)
like a moth to the flame, the avo's attraction to the desk lamp caused it harm. it grew so quickly that i didn't realize it could reach the lamp, and a leaf was singed.
the other thing i've noticed is that the axillary buds (located along the stem) are either smaller or detached altogether. this must have happened just over the last few days. did they fall of on their own? have fruit flies eaten them away? i do not know. i was getting ready to make the decision to pinch, but this is causing me to hesitate.
these buds are meristematic zones! these regions are responsible for a plants growth.
the vascular cambium is the meristematic region located inside the stem and roots of the plant. it produces the xylem and phloem (which transport water/nutrients up and down the plant), and thus controls the girth of the plant. the axillary buds along the stem (from where new leaves, flowers, branches would grow) control vegetative growth. however, they are not as active as the apical meristem, located at the top of the stem. in order to stimulate vegetative growth and obtain a fuller plant, we must eliminate apical dominance. you can do this easily by cutting off the apical meristem of a young plant that has enough axillary buds.
pinching works better with certain plants over others. it is commonly practiced with basil and tomato. it is avoided with pine trees that are grown for the purpose of becoming christmas trees. the resulting adult christmas tree would require two stars (or angels), not one, to guard the highest point. but i do not know exactly how the avocado plant will respond, especially since its axillary buds appear to be damaged.
i will investigate this further before acting. notice how spindly it is:
(typical 750ml bottle, but please note protruding cork)
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