Initial growth of sunflower plants grown under light environments

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an annual plant with high nutritional and productive value. Among the external factors that influence plant growth, light is one of the most important, as it acts directly on metabolic processes to obtain energy. However, there is a lack of information regarding the ideal light environment for sunflower cultivation, as it limitate the plant growth. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of light environments on the growth and production of sunflower plants. The experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB), in a completely randomized design (DIC), with four light environments: full sun (control), red mesh, black mesh and aluminum mesh (both with 50% irradiance) and six repetitions, totalizing twenty-four experimental units. At the end of forty days, physiological growth parameters were evaluated. The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance, applying the Tukey test, at a 5% significance level. Sunflower plants grown under light environments responded positively to light changes, promoting an increase in plant growth. The greatest growth in height was observed for plants grown in environments under the aluminet and red meshes. The use of black mesh reduced plant growth. The best development of sunflower plants was observed in full sun cultivation and with the use of the aluminet photoconverter mesh.