ABSTRACT
Castor (Ricinus communis) is a drought-resistant oilseed crop. This study evaluated five plant growth regulators (PGR) on their capacity to influence stem elongation of castor plants growing under shade and measured side effects on the biomass allocation among leaf, stem, and roots. The experiment had 220 castor plants of the cultivar AKB 02, on a completely randomized design and four replicates. The plants were kept under artificial shade and treated with 11 doses of PGR, applied in the first day after emergence. Eight plants were exposed to full sun radiation without PGR treatment. The plant height was measured daily, and the plants were harvested for weighing the final biomass. The data was subjected to multiple linear regression. The shade promoted stem elongation and reduced biomass accumulation in all compartments. The height growth was restricted by trinexapac-ethyl, mepiquat chloride, and chlormequat chloride. Gibberellin promoted stem elongation in addition to the shade effect. Paclobutrazol did not influence stem elongation, but it favored biomass accumulation and increased the stem density. Gibberellin promoted allocation to stem replacing leaf biomass; trinexapac-ethyl promoted root replacing stem and leaf biomass; mepiquat and chlormequat chloride promoted stem in detriment of leaf biomass. In conclusion, plant growth regulators may be effective to restrict height growth of castor plants, but they can also disturb the biomass allocation among root, stem, and leaves.
Key words:
Ricinus communis; chlormequat chloride; gibberellin; mepiquat chloride; paclobutrazol; trinexapac-ethyl
HIGHLIGHTS:
Trinexapac-ethyl restricts height growth of castor plants, but it impairs root growth.
Chlormequat and mepiquat chloride are effective for restricting castor plant height growth only in very high dose.
Disturbance on biomass allocation among root, stem, and leaves is a side effect of plant growth regulators.
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