Tools to Manage Plant Height Integrated Height Management (IHM) In-Ground and Raised Bed Trials by: Dr. Claudio Pasian Department of Horticulture and Crop Science The Ohio State University For most floriculture growers, plant height control and plant growth regulators are almost the same thing. It is easy to forget that there is more than chemicals when it comes to keeping plants in proportion to their container. In this article I will review some methods of plant height control that do not include chemicals. As with insecticides and fungicides, plant growth regulators will always be a an important tool in a floriculture grower's toolbox. There are circumstances, however, where PGRs are not allowed or even if allowed, they can be more effective if some complimentary cultural practices are implemented. The bottom line is how to produce a quality crop and still make money on it. FIGURE 1 Integrated Height Management (IHM) As with Integrated Pest management (IPM), we can have a comprehensive set of cultural practices that will allow growers to either replace or reduce chemicals while still producing plants with balanced proportions. What affects plant height Each plant form/appearance (phenotype) is the consequence of its Genotype (genes) and the environment where the plant is grown. For practical purposes, I will divide the environment in Above-ground Environment and Root Environment. Genotype Through breeding, it is possible to change the height growth potential of a cultivar. However, plants that tend to be smaller and look good during the growing phase, most likely will be small when planted in the landscape. Some customers may feel disappointed to see their plants not performing as they expected. Since customer satisfaction is paramount in order to have a vibrant industry, growers should be very cautious in their selection of cultivars. Growers should balance their production needs while at the same time fulfilling customers expectations. Some day, through biotechnology, will have cultivars that are short while young (greenhouse production phase) and then grow freely when in the landscape. We are not quite there yet. Above-ground Environment Light. It is well know by any good greenhouse grower that light intensity and quality has an effect on plant shape (height). In some parts of the country, Spring crops to be sold in the South are started during late winter, a period of very low light levels. There is nothing that can be done regarding short days and overcast skies. However, growers can keep the roofs as clean as possible and resist the temptation of hanging too many baskets on top of other crops. The aerial space inside greenhouses is not totally free: it costs you light! When light goes through plant canopies, not only its intensity is reduced but also its quality is changed: it gains green and loses red. Plants can sense this change in light quality and react to it. Most of the times, the result is stretching. There has been research done in this area (among others by Dr. Peg McMahon at The Ohio State University) with the objective of modifying light quality to keep the plants short. Some companies have incorporated some pigments in polyethylene films that can achieve this goal. These films will not be used to cover greenhouses, rather as a movable "curtain" on top of the crops: extended when height control is needed and retracted when not. These plastics are not in the market yet. Temperature. A lot of work has been done in this area. Many growers are aware and using tools like DIF or DIP. Growers in northern latitudes can grow plants with day temperatures lower than night temperatures (DIF). When DIF is difficult or expensive to achieve, growers reduce air temperatures starting two hours before sun rise until two hours after sunrise (DIP). Using temperature along with graphical tracking has allowed many growers to reduce (if not eliminate) the use of PGRs on some crops. In general, cool temperatures and high light intensities favor the production of compact plants. It is not unusual to find the best bedding plants among those that were moved out of the greenhouse for growth during Spring. Direct sunlight, lower temperatures, and the effect of wind (read about this ahead in this article) produce stockier, more compact plants. In this regard, greenhouses with roofs that open or retract may save growers time and money by reducing the need for PGR applications. Root Environment Water. Growers of vegetables, plugs or packs, know that by reducing the fertilization and irrigation, it is possible to control plant height. This method (I call it the starvation method) produces shorter but severely stressed and ugly looking plants. At OSU, we are studying the possibility of using irrigation as a height control tool. It will take some time before we have something ready and easy to use by growers. Fertility. Few growers I know use fertility to control plant height. Traditionally, it has been said that fertilizers that are rich in ammoniac-nitrogen will produce soft, luxurious growth and stretching. On the other hand, it was thought that fertilizing with high levels of nitrate-nitrogen would favor compactness. This is a very common misconception. It turns out that fertilizers rich in nitrate-N (13-2-13; 15-0-15; 14-0-14) are low in phosphorous (P), and fertilizers rich in ammonia-N (20-20-20; 20-10-20; 15-16-17) are high in P. Research conducted in Demmark (Dr. C.W. Hanson) and the US (Dr. P. Nelson) clearly indicates that it is the level of P causing the stretching and not the form of N. Usually, a P level of 19 – 20 ppm is more than enough to grow a good crop. With much lower levels, it is still possible to grow a good crop while at the same time restrict plant height. I have read that in Europe, a chemical company is promoting a product based on an activated aluminum oxide that releases very small amounts of P into the substrate. By doing so, grower have shorter crops. (I have not tested this product, so I cannot offer an opinion about it.) The bottom line is that it is very important to select the appropriate fertilizer. Before growers decide to make the change based on P levels, they should consider other factors, e.g. acidity or basicity. For example, high ammonia-N fertilizers are more acidic and help counteract the effect of high alkalinity water. Methods of Plant Height Control Greenhouse growers have several tools to keep plants in proportion to their containers: chemical control (PGRs), environmental control (light, temperature, nutrients, water), and mechanical control (brushing and shaking). Of all these methods, the least used by floriculture greenhouse growers is mechanical control. For growers who produce vegetables, this is a method they should seriously consider given the fact that PGRs are not allowed on vegetables. In the 70s Dr. Mitchell (Purdue University) and his collaborators published a work showing that plants that were shaken or bent by hand were shorter than the plants unshaken or untouched (controls). Since then, many researchers in Europe and the US (including Dr. Joyce Latimer) have improved this methodology and have developed the "brushing method" to control plant height. The most common way of applying this technique is by gently sliding a PVC pipe over the tops of plants in one direction and then repeat the movement in the opposite direction. The operation has to be repeated a minimum of a couple of times a day. Some growers use PVC pipes held in their hands while moving back and forth along the aisles between benches. Others have developed frames that allow the adjustment of the height of the pipe sliding over the plants. As the plants grow, the pipe can be moved higher. It is up to the growers' imagination to develop systems that permit bending or shaking in a practical way. Tomato plants respond very well to this method of height control: plants are short and green because normal watering and fertilization can be continued. Some crops like peppers may show leaf damage of young leaves. The potential of spreading plant diseases is also a possibility that has to be considered when deciding to use this method. Perhaps, the most important reason why this method is not widely used is the fact that it has to be applied continuously: every day, a few times a day plants have to be bent or shaken. In conclusion, plant height control is much more than PGRs. Growers should start the process of plant height control by selecting the right cultivar and continue by managing the environment: increase light levels, use DIF or DIP, select fertilizers with lower levels of P. If these methods do not produce the desired effect, PGRs should be used.