Quote:
Originally Posted by dmforcier
The article cited (very good, thanks) seems to be analyzing a commercial operation. (A similar article I saw earlier definitely was.) Commercial operations don't have the time to be particularly careful when transplanting.
But I do. A transplant - particularly from a starter cell - is practically a surgical operation here. As far as I can tell, roots are rarely if ever damaged (other than the cramping inherent in containerization). Later transplants are even more protective of roots, moving the entire padding root ball. The article clearly states that because roots are damaged at every transplant the lifetime yield of the plant decreases with the number of transplants. Reasonable, but remove the precondition, you remove the effect (or so it seems to me).
In fact, as I read it, the article is suggesting that the grower intentionally damage the root system to change its nature. But wouldn't that have the net effect of lowering lifetime yield?
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No, not a commercial operation,look at the authors, both were from the U of Nebraska,I think,and both listed their titles,which back then would put them in the Dept of Plant Biology.
(A transplant - particularly from a starter cell - is practically a surgical operation here. As far as I can tell, roots are rarely if ever damaged (other than the cramping inherent in containerization). Later transplants are even more protective of roots, moving the entire padding root ball. The article clearly states that
because roots are damaged at every transplant the lifetime yield of the plant decreases with the number of transplants. Reasonable, but remove the precondition, you remove the effect (or so it seems to me))
Thats not the way that I or others have read it,the difference being between a tap root structure if seeds are directly sown or a fibrous structure if transplanted just once.
Carolyn
Carolyn