Observations on the effect of varying temperatures on the flowering and fruit set in three varieties of groundnut.

Abstract

Groundnut varieties from Indonesia (var. Schwarz 21), Mallorca and the Ukraine, all bunch types, were grown in pots in growth chambers at 18 degrees , 21 degrees , 27 degrees , 30 degrees and 33 degrees C and given 12 hr. light/day. Germination, but no subsequent growth, occurred at 18 degrees C. The Mallorcan variety alone flowered at 21 degrees C, but did not set fruit. Optimum vegetative growth occurred at 30 degrees C in Schwarz 21 and the Mallorcan var. and at 33 degrees C in the Ukraine variety. Optimum fruit-setting occurred between 27 degrees and 30 degrees C in Schwarz 21, at 27 degrees C in the Mallorcan var., and somewhat below 27 degrees C in the Ukraine var. The range of temperatures at which satisfactory fruit-setting took place was greatest in the Ukraine var. and least in Schwarz 21. There was no indication of thermoperiodicity in groundnuts.-R.B. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)