Effects of Day Length and Air Temperature on Stem Growth and Flowering in Sesame

Abstract

The effects of day length and air temperature on the growth and flowering of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) were examined to analyze the effect of seeding date on the seed yield. Short day (10-h light/14-h darkness) treatment decreased the final stem-length relative to natural day length (14.1～13.4-h), although it hardly affected the length of the stem-elongation period. The short-day treatment shortened the duration to the first flower and lowered the first flowering-node. It prolonged the flowering period, but decreased the flowering-node number on the main stem resulting from the slower rate of increase in nodes with flowers. Under a low day/night temperature condition (23/18ºC), the stem growth was very slow and flowering did not occur. As compared with a high temperature (30/23ºC), a low temperature (22/15ºC) during 15 days after emergence suppressed the seedling growth temporarily, but the seedlings resumed growth after the temperature treatment. The growth and flowering behavior after the treatment were unaffected by a low temperature during the seedling stage. On the other hand, a low temperature during the flowering period decreased the flowering-node number resulting from the slower rate of increase in nodes with flowers, although it prolonged the flowering period. In this study, the decrease in the flowering-node number by short days and low temperature was smaller than that by delay of seeding date as observed in our previous study. Thus, the effects of day length and air temperature were not the sole factors responsible for the effect of seeding date on the flowering-node number.