RESUMEN
The lower alkyl esters of the C(8) to C(12) fatty acids and the C(8) to C(10) fatty alcohols selectively kill or inhibit the terminal meristem without damaging the axillary meristems, foliage, or stem tissue of a wide variety of plants. The axillary meristems develop at nearly the same time as those of plants whose terminal meristems have been removed manually. The concentration of the fatty acid esters and alcohols required to kill the terminal meristem range from 0.025 to 0.05M for herbaceous plants, 0.05 to 0.16M for semi-woody plants, and 0.16 to 0.27M for woody plants.
RESUMEN
Flowering of chrysanthemum plants under short photoperiods, as is well known, is prevented when the plants are illuminated near the middle of the long night. Such illumination inhibits flowering whether it is given continuously or intermittently, and whether it comes from incandescent or from fluorescent lamps. We discovered, however, that fluorescent light applied intermittently (cyclically) throughout the entire 16-hour long night was far less inhibitory than when applied during only part of this dark period. By contrast, incandescent filament illumination is strongly inhibitory under these conditions. The cycles of fluorescent light usually lasted 15 minutes, 1.5 minutes of light followed by 13.5 minutes of dark. When such cycles were applied for only 12 hours, leaving 4 hours of uninterrupted darkness in each long night, inhibition of flowering was complete again.