| Abstract: | Improvements in seed germination, the early establishment of leaf cover, storage root development and the control of bolting would all increase the yield of sugar beet in the UK. Plant growth at these stages of development is controlled by genotype and by climatic factors acting through endogenous growth substances and is potentially capable of modification by applied growth regulators. For example, sugar beet responds to changes in daylength and spectral quality of light at the end of the day by increasing lamina and petiole growth, light interception and plant growth rate. Changes in endogenous gibberellins in young leaves of plants growing in different photoperiods and the responses of these leaves to applied gibberellic acid are presented as evidence for the involvement of gibberellins in leaf expansion in sugar beet. |
