The objective of this work was to determine the number of leaves and phyllochron of canola genotypes, in response to thermal variations associated with sowing dates. Two experiments were conducted in a randomized block design, with a factorial arrangement of genotype by sowing date (5x2, in 2009, and 2x3 in 2010), and four replicates. The number of leaves on the main stem and first branch was determined threefold a week. Phyllochron was estimated by the inverse of the slope between the thermal time and the number of leaves, at the rosette stage and at stem elongation. The number of leaves on the main stem ranged from 11.5 to 16.4; this number was on average 70% lower in the first segment. The number of leaves on the main stem was higher in early sowing, and the opposite occurred in the first segment. The phyllochron was higher in the rosette stage, and values ranged from 21.4 to 52.9 degree-days per leaf, according to genotypes and sowing dates. Late sowing dates increased the phyllochron. Early genotypes have lower number of leaves and phyllochron than medium and late genotypes, and the variability between them increase in late sowings.
Brassica napus; Brassica juncea; rapeseed; leaf appearance; phenology; thermal time
