| Abstract: | An apparatus is described in which seedlings can be grown ona non-polar substrate in continuously flowing nutrient solutionsgiving a constant and defined root environment. The apparatus,which is simple to construct, allows seedling growth studiesto be begun as soon as the seeds have germinated. In an experiment in which seedlings were grown for 13 d in nutrientsolutions allowing normal growth or severely restricted growth,or were transferred from the latter to the former after 3 or6 d, root lengths and cotyledon areas differed significantlyafter only 3 d. After 13 d the transferred seedlings, althoughsmaller in absolute size than the normal seedlings, resembledthem in a number of over-all morphological features. Because of the rapid and substantial effects that nutrient treatmentscan have on seedling growth, it is suggested that seedling developmentstudies should be carried out under carefully controlled andaccurately defined nutrient conditions. |
