Nostr

Disagree a bit here, low light causes the plant cells to swell and elongate. This is the process that causes the leaves on stems to turn toward the light, the lit side cells are shorter than the shaded side cells. When the stalk elongates evenly, it means both stem cell sides are elongating to push the leaves further toward the light source.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 2y ago

low light causes elongation but low temperature slows down growth and stops the elongation, though it may also entail more watering

it's something you would know about if you had managed an indoor garden and didn't keep it cool/ventilated enough

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Jac 2y ago

No need to get snippy. Just looking at the pages of my university botany texts in my mind forty years past the endeavor. 😁 I could find a textual explanation, but I don’t think you are interested?

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 2y ago

i got that a bit muddled

if you are getting elongation, you need to increase ventilation and may require more watering

you can also fix this with more light but if the light brings too much heat you get a reduced benefit

it's not just the growth rate of the cells, it's also the liquid/gas solubility of CO2, at lower temperatures CO2 is more concentrated, first, and second, it dissolves better in the water of the cells of the plant

i am not sure i have articulated the principle well but less light gives less elongation with lower temps, and it's probably really related to CO2 and growth acceleration too

you can reduce elongation, probably, by increasing CO2 levels in the growing area