Summary
Root zone temperatures were imposed to study their effect along with those of the air on temperatures of the shoot apices in stalks of maize plants (Zea mays L.). Plants were grown to the 6- to 8-leaf stages in sand culture. Internal stalk temperatures were measured in 21 plants using a Wheatstone bridge with a bead thermistor for two general cases — one with aerial temperatures (T a ) greater than root zone temperatures (T s ) and the other withT s greater thanT a .
Temperature gradients longitudinally within the stalks were found to be primarily a function of the difference betweenT a andT s although the heat of respiration within the stalk apparently had some effect. The effect of both aerial and root zone temperatures in regulating temperatures of the shoot apices of young maize plants was evident from the experimental data.
An attempt was made to compare the temperature gradient within a young maize plant stalk to a mathematical model consisting of an isotropic rod with one end immersed in an infinite heat source or sink. The comparison was not good apparently because of the morphology and complex physical nature of the stalk.
Linear equations were developed from the experimental data for both cases (T a <T s andT a >T s ) which may be used to estimate the internal stalk temperature at positions in the lower 5 cm portion of the stalk given only the aerial and root zone temperatures.
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Agronomy Department Paper No. 764.
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Beauchamp, E.G., Torrance, J.K. Temperature gradients within young maize plant stalks as influenced by aerial and root zone temperatures. Plant Soil 30, 241–251 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349513
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349513