The use of vegetable phytometers in the evaluation of the potential response of understorey crops to the aerial environment in an interculture system

Carrots, onions, radishes and peas, growing in pots were placed at various locations in a pear orchard and used as phytometers to characterise the aerial environment. The growth of plants growing beneath the orchard canopy was not significantly less than that of phytometers grown in the open. However, the bulb diameter of radish and onion was significantly reduced when growing immediately beneath pear trees. Radish was selected as a suitable phytometer for further research.