4

Carrots and radishes form an underground mass during the first summer and the seeds during the second. I use a tiny heated unlit greenhouse. How will they ever know it's 'winter' instead of continuing to grow indefinitely?

  • My first guess would be sunshine hours per day. Plants seem to be more accurate even than a human at measuring those.
  • Temperature (like chestnut seeds do)?
  • Some genetic timer (like humans have the timer "you're already 80, ain't it time to die already")?
  • Humidity?
  • The cold simply murdering off its above ground part (however I've seen Liliums die back solely because the day was shortening)
  • Micro fauna?
  • Magic?

If the answer is something entirely in the control of the farmer - even if we add programmable lightning and air humidity - a 100kg carrot would have hit the news, right?

Jurp
  • 20,993
  • 1
  • 19
  • 40
Vorac
  • 1,535
  • 1
  • 11
  • 18

1 Answers1

1

As expected, photoperiod seems to be the major driver with temperature also being important. The actual biochemistry is still being studied. 'several environmental cues, genetic factors and plant nutrition' have also been suggested.

In short, creating a 100kg carrot under controlled environment is probably possible today. The reason we haven't seen it on the news is that no one seems to be motivated enough to invest in such a "useful" endeavor.

Vorac
  • 1,535
  • 1
  • 11
  • 18