The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the duration of vegetative, reproductive and total developmental cycle with the main stem final leaf number and with the main stem leaf appearance rate in Brazilian wheat cultivars, varying the sowing date. A field experiment was carried out in Santa Maria, RS, in 13 sowing dates during three years (2005, 2006 and 2007). Six wheat genotypes with developmental cycle varying from early to late were used: BRS LOURO, CEP 52, BRS 177, CEP 51, NOVA ERA, and BRS TARUMÃ. For each cultivar and sowing date, the duration, in °C day, of the vegetative (emergence - anthesis), reproductive (anthesis - physiological maturity) phases, and total developmental cycle (emergence - physiological maturity), the main stem final leaf number and the phyllochron (time interval between the appearance of two successive leaves) were determined. The relationship between these variables was tested through a regression analysis. The results indicate that the duration of total developmental cycle of wheat is directly related with the duration of the vegetative phase and not with the duration of the reproductive phase, which was similar among cultivars. The duration of the vegetative phase is related with main stem final leaf number and not with leaf appearance rate.
Triticum aestivum; thermal time; growth; cell differentiation
