Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications (Surround WP<sup>®</sup>) and Water Deficit on Physiological Characteristics in Rose Cut Plants (<i>Rose spp</i> L.)

doi:10.4236/ajps.2011.23040

Paper Menu >>

Journal Menu >>

American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2011, 2, 354-358

doi:10.4236/ajps.2011.23040 Published Online September 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ajps)

Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications

(Surround WP®) and Water Deficit on

Physiological Characteristics in Rose

Cut Plants (Rose spp L.)

Yuly Marcela Sotelo-Cuitiva, Hermann Restrepo-Díaz*, Alexandra García-Castro,

Augusto Ramírez-Godoy, Victor Julio Flórez-Roncancio

Faculty of Agronomy, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.

Email: *[email protected]

Received May 7th, 2011; revised June 10th, 2011; accepted July 17th, 2011.

ABSTRACT

The effect of foliar applica tions of a kaolin clay particle film (Surround WP) on leaf temperature (Tlf), chlorophyll fl uo-

rescence (Fv/Fm), shoot length, production and water relations in well-irrigated and water-stressed rose cut plants

(Rose spp) were studied during ten weeks. Plants were sprayed twice at first and fifth week a fter the experiment star ted

with aqueous suspensions of Kaolin (Surround) at a dose of 5% (w/v). The interaction between Kaolin applica tions an d

water status did not showed significances. Water stress decreased the stomatal conductance (gs), leaf water content

(LWC), shoot length and the number of marketable floral stems. Kaolin sprays did not affect on SPAD readings, chlo-

rophyll fluorescence, gs, LWC and shoot length. Kaolin reduced leaf temperature by 2.5˚C approximately at midday

compared to plants non-sprayed with kao lin. These results show that kaolin foliar applicatio ns could be considered an

useful tool at early growth stage in improving rose plant acclimation to high temperatures levels under greenhouse

conditions in trop ical regions.

Keywords: Surround WP, Leaf Water Content, Stomatal Conductance, Leaf Temperature, Shoot Length

1. Introduction

Rose is one of the main ornamental plants in the world

[1], being Colombia the first roses-producing country in

Latin American and the second roses-exporting country

in the world with a exportation of 59,499 tons of rose for

cutflower during 2009 [2].

Temperatures are often higher than optimal in orna-

mental production systems. This situation may stress

plants, causing a reduction of quality and/or yield of or-

namental crops [3]. The high solar radiation and tem-

peratures cause high rates of plant water loss and plants

regularly show symptoms of burn or withering in leaves

or fruits [4]. In Colombia, it is common find high tem-

peratures (above 35˚C) in greenhouses during dry season

(period of time without rains) or the Niño phenomenon

[5]. High temperatures may reduce flower quality be-

cause of excessive plant transpiration and respiration [6].

On the other hand, low leaf water content causes nega-

tive effect on leaf area, CO2 assimilation rate, stomatal

conductance and yield in rose plants [7]. To diminish the

negative influence of water and heat stress on plant

physiology and productivity, particle film applications

such as kaolin have been used [8]. Kaolin cools tissues

and protects plants from extreme heat and ultraviolet

radiation by increasing leaf reflectance and reducing

transpiration rate [9,10].

Kaolin has been tested in different horticultural crops

and its response has been heterogeneous [8]. Kaolin

showed a reduction on leaf temperature in apple trees

[11], and improved light-saturated CO2 assimilation rate

(Amax) and stomatal conductance (gs) in citrus at midday

[12]. However, kaolin has no effect on gas exchange pa-

rameters in pepper [13] and did not suffice to mitigate

the adverse effects of heat and water stress on photo-

synthesis in almond and walnut [8], and enhanced water

loss from fruit in tomato [9]. Combined studies on the

influence of kaolin particle film applications and water

stress have been limited in ornamental plants. Only, the

Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications (Surround WP®) and Water Deficit on 355

Physiological Characteristics in Rose Cut Plants (Rose spp L.)

literature stated studies performed by Moftah and

Al-Humaid [14] that the kaolin sprays enhanced water

status, water use efficiency (WUE) and the photosyn-

thetic activity in an ornamental plant (Polianthes tube-

rosa L.) under water deficit. However, there are not

studies that have evaluated the use of foliar applications

of kaolin on ornamental plants established under water

deficit conditions in tropical regions.

For that reason, the aim of the present work was to

study and compare the influence of kaolin film particle

applications and the water status on the stomatal conduc-

tance, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll content, shoot

length, yield of marketable stems, leaf water content and

leaf temperature in rose cut plants.

2. Materials and Method

This study was carried out at “Centro de Biotecnologia

del SENA” in Mosquera, Colombia (latitude 4.7˚ N, lon-

gitude 74.2˚ W) for 10 weeks under greenhouse condi-

tions. The greenhouse conditions during the experiment

were the following: maximum temperature 35.5˚C,

minimum temperature 10˚C, solar radiation 85.41 W/m2,

relative humidity between 50% - 90% and a photoperiod

of 12 h, approximately. Four-year-old “Charlotte” rose

plants grafted on “Natal Briar” were used. Two plants

were cultivated into 8-l plastic pots containing rice husk

(burnt at 65%) as substrate. The plants received routine

horticultural care suitable for commercial production

such as weed and pest control.

Treatments were established after shoot pinch. Rose

plants were split into two groups (well-fertigated (W) and

water-stressed (S) plants). Well-fertigated plants were

watered daily with 850 ml of a nutrient solution which

had the following composition in ppm: N 170, P 35, K

150, Ca 110, Mg 60, S 82, Mn 1, Zn 0.5, Cu 0.5, Fe 3, B

0.5 and Mo 0.1. This volume of irrigation is common

used by rose’s growers in Colombia [15]. Water-stressed

plants were irrigated daily with the 50% of the nutrient

solution’s volume (475 ml), which also had the same

nutritional concentration mentioned above. This water

quantity was chosen as water stress treatment because

growing is affected [7]. Additionally, water stressed plant

received complementary fertilization in order to have

plants with similar nutritional conditions. Then, plants in

both water statuses were also separated into plants sprayed

with kaolin and plants without kaolin. Kaolin foliar ap-

plications were performed at 6 and 30 days after shoot

pinch (DAP). Foliar applications of kaolin (300 ml/plant)

were carried out with an air blast sprayer, wetting the

upper and lower surfaces. Foliar applications were per-

formed at early morning at a rate of 5% (w/v) kaolin wa-

ter suspension (Surround WP, Tessenderlo Kerley, US),

with no adhesive or other compounds.

Leaf chlorophyll content and leaf temperature were

measured at 15, 30, 45 and 60 DAP on a fully mature ex-

panded leaf using a SPAD chlorophyll meter as a nonde-

structive tool for estimating leaf Chlorophyll (SPAD-502,

Konica Minolta Sensing, Inc., Ramsey, NJ) and an infra-

red thermometer (MX2SL3U, Cole-Parmer Instrument

Company, Vernon Hills, IL), respectively. Leaf tempera-

ture readings were carried out at mid-day. Leaf chlorophyll

fluorescence was estimated at 60 DAP using a continuous

excitation chlorophyll fluorescence analyzer (Handy PEA,

Hansatech Instruments, Kings Lynn, UK) in order to

evaluate the maximum efficiency of photosystem II

(Fv/Fm). Previously, leaves were acclimated to the dark

using lightweight leaf clips for at least half an hour before

measurements were performed.

Stomatal conductance was measured on a fully ex-

panded mature leaf from the midportion of canopy using

a leaf-porometer (SC-1 Decagon Devices, Inc., Pullman,

WA). This measurement was performed at 60 DAP be-

tween 0900 h and 1500 h.

Fully expanded mature leaves from the midportion of

canopy were collected. Leaves were introduced into a

cooler with ice to avoid dehydration and then taken to the

laboratory where fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW)

were determined. Leaf water content (LWC) was esti-

mated by the equation: LWC = 100 × (FW – DW)/(FW).

Soil water content (SWC) was also determined by a soil

humidity probe (Kelway Soil tester, Kel instruments Co.,

Inc., Wyckoff, NJ). LWC and SWC were obtained at 15,

30, 45 and 60 DAP. Shoot length was estimated from

eight stems per pot and recorded every week starting 15

DAP until harvest. The portion of light intercepted by the

canopy was calculated using the technique described by

Naab et al. [16] at 60 DAP. Leaf area index (LAI) was

calculated at the end of experiment by a ceptometer

(Accupar LP-80, Decagon Devices, Inc., Pullman, WA).

Marketable floral stems were counted at harvesting time.

A floral stem was considered marketable when its length

was higher than 50 cm.

A factorial experiment with two factors, Kaolin sprays

(Kaolin versus without kaolin) and plant water status

(well-irrigated versus water-stressed) with four blocks,

was established in the above-mentioned greenhouse. The

experimental unit was composed of six plastic pots. An-

alyses of variance were performed on the data to com-

pare the effect of the treatments. All percentage values

were transformed using the arcsine transformation before

analysis. Where a significant F-test was observed, mean

separation between treatments was obtained by Tukey’s

test. Data were analyzed using Statistix Version 8.0 (Ana-

lytical Software, Tallahassee, FL, US).

Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications (Surround WP®) and Water Deficit on

Physiological Characteristics in Rose Cut Plants (Rose spp L.)

356

3. Results and Discussion

Significant interactions were not found between plant

water status and kaolin. Nevertheless, significant differ-

ences were observed when each factor was analyzed

separately (Table 1). SWC and LWC were affected by

water treatments. Water-stressed plants showed a lower

SWC (51.04%) and LWC (74.58%) than well-irrigated

plants during 10 weeks, indicating that a group of plants

were under water stress conditions for the duration of the

experiment. Also, water-stressed plants had a lower sto-

matal conductance (gs) than well-irrigated plants. Moftah

and Al-Humaid [14] also observed that the gs of Kaolin-

sprayed plants under water stress conditions (plants irri-

gated with 60% of water added to control well-irrigated

treatments) did not reach the values obtained in control

plants in ornamental plants such as Polianthes tuberosa

L. However, some authors stated that kaolin can enhance

water use efficiency (WUE) under moderate water stress

conditions [10,12,14] in spite of low gs.

No differences were observed by irrigation regime on

leaf temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, and SPAD

readings in rose cut plants. Regarding the kaolin-based

particle film, significance differences were only observed

on leaf temperature. Plants treated with foliar sprays

showed a lower leaf temperature than non-sprayed plants.

Plants sprayed with kaolin showed a difference approxi-

mately of 2.5˚C on leaf temperature at mid-day compared

to plants without particle film applications. Our results

confirm the stated by Glenn et al. [17], who reported that

Kaolin reduces leaf temperature by increasing leaf re-

flectance. Similar results were observed by [11,12], who

observed that foliar applications of kaolin reduced leaf

temperature at midday (Tlf ≈ 3˚C) in grapefruits and ap-

ple leaves, respectively. On the other hand, the interaction

kaolin and irrigation regime did not show differences on

LAI, shoot length, the portion of light intercepted and the

number of marketable stems (Table 2). Differences were

only found on the number of marketable stems and shoot

length under deficit irrigation. Well-irrigated plants had a

greater shoot length and marketable stems than water-

stressed plants. Raviv and Bloom [7] reported that a low

soil water content reduced shoot length in rose cut plants,

since water stress caused stomatal closure, thereby re-

ducing the plant’s turgidity, which diminish expansive

growth.

Table 1. Effect of kaolin film particle applications and water deficit on leaf temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, SPAD,

stomatal conductance, soil wate r conte nt and le af water c o nt ent in “Charlotte” rose plants grafted on “Natal Briar”.

Leaf

temperaturea (˚C) Chlorophyll

fluorescence (Fv/Fm)SPADa Stomatal conductance

(mmol CO2 m–2·s–1) Soil water

contenta (%) Leaf water

contenta (%)

Stress

Well-watered 20.26 0.83 49.2 172.43 ab 61.04 a 76.56 a

Water-stressed 19.18 0.82 47.4 147.25 b 51.04 b 70.58 b

Significancec NS NS NS *** *** **

Kaolin

No kaolin 21.19 a 0.83 49.0 157.45 55.62 75.43

With kaolin 18.87 b 0.81 47.6 160.25 56.45 75.71

Significance *** NS NS NS NS NS

Stress × Kaolind NS NS NS NS NS NS

CV (%)e 5.11 4.79 11.54 27.34 13.42 2.87

aValues are the average of samples done at 15, 30, 45 and 60 DAP; bWithin a column and factor followed by different letters are significantly different at P <

0.05 by Tukey’s test; cNS, **, ***, Non-significant or significant at P ≤ 0.01 or P ≤ 0.001, respectively; dInteraction between Kaolin sprays and irrigation re-

gime. NS means non-significant; eCoefficient of variation.

Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications (Surround WP®) and Water Deficit on 357

Physiological Characteristics in Rose Cut Plants (Rose spp L.)

Table 2. Effect of kaolin film particle applications and water deficit on shoot length, leaf area index, portion of light inter-

cepted and number of marketable stems in “Charlotte” rose plants grafted on “Natal Briar”.

Shoot

length (cm) Leaf area index

(LAI) Portion of light intercepted

(%) Yield

(number of marketable stems)

Stress

Well-watered 75.41 aa 3.06 89 58.9 a

Water-stressed 58.18 b 2.44 88 35.9 b

Significanceb ** NS NS ***

Kaolin

No kaolin 70.89 2.58 88 48.8

With kaolin 62.71 2.92 88 46.0

Significance NS NS NS NS

Stress × Kaolinc NS NS NS NS

CV (%)d 20.83 17.89 2.70 20.40

aWithin a column and factor followed by different letters are significantly different at P < 0.05 by Tukey’s test; bNS, **, ***, Non-significant or Significant at

P ≤ 0.01 or P ≤ 0.001, respectively; cInteraction between kaolin sprays and irrigation regime. NS means non-significant; dCoefficient of variation.

4. Conclusions

In summary, water stress has a negative influence on

stomatal conductance, shoot length, and yield quality of a

valuable ornamental plant such as rose cut plants, which

is an important issue to consider in greenhouse condi-

tions in tropical areas. Application of particle film tended

to reduce leaf temperature at midday because of kaolin’s

ability to reflect most of the radiant energy fall ing on

leaf surfaces. From these data, kaolin sprays could be

considered as a tool to be used in tropical regions to im-

prove the plant acclimation to high temperature and high

radiation levels at early stages of shoot growth in rose cut

plants. However, more studies are necessary to estimate

the phenological optimal stage and dose of kaolin film

particle applications in order to not affect the visual ap-

pearance of the stem flower.

5. Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Research Division of the

National University of Colombia, Project code No. 11345.

Also, authors acknowledge Centro de Biotecnología del

SENA for technical facilities during the development of

this research. Finally, authors want to thank to Dr. Juan

Carlos Melgar for reviewing this manuscript and Dr.

Kurt Volker for providing us a small sample of Surround

WP.

REFERENCES

[1] G. Niu and D. S. Rodriguez, “Growth and Physiological

Responses of Four Rose Rootstocks to Drought Stress,”

Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science,

Vol. 134, No. 2, 2009, pp. 202-209.

[2] Asocolflores, “Colombian Floriculture. General Informa-

tion,” 2010. http://www.asocolflores.org

[3] H. Restrepo-Díaz, J. C. Melgar and L. Lombardini,

“Ecophysiology of Horticultural Crops: An Overview,”

Agronomía Colombiana, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2010, pp. 71-79.

[4] A. J. Callejón-Ferre, F. Manzano-Agugliaro, M. Díaz-

Pérez, A. Carreño-Ortega and J. Pérez-Alonso, “Effect of

Shading with Aluminised Screens on Fruit Production

and Quality in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under

Greenhouse Conditions,” Spanish Journal of Agricultural

Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2009, pp. 41-49.

[5] Asocolflores, “Colombia: Mildeo Velloso y Clima bajo

Invernadero en la Sabana de Bogotá,” 1997.

http://www.asocolflores.org

[6] H. Fernandez, H. Conti and A. Di Benedetto, “Heat Stress

and Cut Roses Productivity in Argentina,” Acta Horticul-

turae, Vol. 357, 1994, pp. 123-134.

[7] M. Raviv and T. J. Blom, “The Effect of Water Avail-

Effect of Kaolin Film Particle Applications (Surround WP®) and Water Deficit on

358

Physiological Characteristics in Rose Cut Plants (Rose spp L.)

abilty and Quality on Photosynthesis and Productivity of

Soilless-Grown Cut Roses,” Scientia Horticulturae, Vol.

88, 2001, pp. 257-276.

[8] A. Rosati, S. G. Metcalf, R. P. Buchner, A. E. Fulton and

B. D. Lampinen, “Physiological Effects of Kaolin Appli-

cations in Well-Irrigated and Water-Stressed Walnut and

Almond Trees,” Annals of Botany, Vol. 98, No. 1, 2006, pp.

267-275. doi:10.1093/aob/mcl100

[9] A. Nakano and Y. Uehara, “The Effects of Kaolin Clay

on Cuticle Transpiration in Tomato,” Acta Horticulturae,

Vol. 440, 1996, pp. 233-238.

[10] D. M. Glenn, N. Cooley, R. Walker, P. Clingeleffer and

K. Shellie, “Impact of Kaolin Particle Film and Water

Deficit on Wine Grape Water Use Efficiency and Plant

Water Relation,” HortScience, Vol. 45, No. 8, 2010, pp.

1178-1187.

[11] N. Wunsche, L. Lombardini and D. H. Greer, “‘Surround’

Particle Film Applications―Effects on Whole Canopy

Physiology of Apple,” Acta Horticulturae, Vol. 636, 2004,

pp. 565-575.

[12] J. L. Jifon and J. P. Syvertsen, “Kaolin Particle Film Ap-

lications Can Increase Photosynthesis and Water Use Ef-

ficiency of ‘Ruby Red’ Grapefruit Leaves,” Journal of the

American Society for Horticultural Science, Vol. 128, No.

1, 2003, pp. 104-112.

[13] V. M. Russo and J. C. Diaz-Perez, “Kaolin-Based Particle

Film Has No Effect on Physiological Measurements,

Disease Incidence or Yield in Peppers,” HortScience, Vol.

40, No. 1, 2005, pp. 98-101.

[14] A. E. Moftah and A. I. Al-Humaid, “Effects of Kaolin

and Pinolene Film-Forming Polymers on Water Relations

and Photosynthetic Rate of Tuberose (Polianthes tube-

rosa L.),” Agricultural Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2005, pp.

35-49.

[15] V. Flórez, A. Fernández, D. Miranda, B. Chaves and J.

Guzmán, “Avances Sobre Fertirriego en la Floricultura

Colombiana,” Unibiblos, Bogotá, 2006.

[16] J. B. Naab, K. J. Boote, P. V. Prasad, S. S. Seini and J. W.

Jones, “Influence of Fungicide and Sowing Density on

the Growth and Yield of Two Groundnut Cultivars,” The

Journal of Agrcultural Science, Vol. 147, 2009, pp.

179-191.

[17] D. M. Glenn, E. Prado, A. Erez, J. McFerson and G. J.

Puterka, “A Reflective, Processed-Kaolin Particle Film

Affects Fruit Temperature, Radiation Reflection, and So-

lar Injury in Apple,” Journal of the American Society for

Horticultural Science, Vol. 127, No. 2, 2002, pp. 188-

193.