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Mark Nealon

Photoperiodism: Short-Day Plants

Carl Miller  Follow

I think you are looking at other the wrong way around. There is no critical light period, there is a critical dark period. That long-day flower is also a short-night flower. As long as there is never any period of darkness that exceeds the critical dark period, it will flower.

In that second picture at the bottom, exactly that is the case. The dark period is not long enough to prevent the flowering.

And in the bottom example of the first picture, there is no uninterrupted dark period longer than the critical dark period, so the plant never flowers.

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Emily Anne  Follow
What doesn't make sense for me is this: "As long as there is never any period of darkness that exceeds the critical dark period, it will flower." Take a look at part (b) of the diagram and the very bottom scenario. The period of darkness is longer than the critical night period, but the plant is a short-night flower and thus requires a night period that is shorter--not longer--than its critical period. Even with the added flash of light, the yellow bar does not exceed the black bar. Could you please explain that part? That's mostly what confuses me.More
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James Stewart  Follow
The thing to remember is to not add them up. It only counts if it's in one "piece". For those flowers it's not like our sleep, where being awake for 5 minutes between two 4 hour periods still feels like a good night's sleep. For the long day plants, it's only important that no continuous dark period is longer than x hours. Does that help?More
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