Development of a hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) simulation model 2.: The flowering response of two hemp cultivars to photoperiod

The duration from sowing to flowering is an important determinant of fibre yield potential in hemp, since maximum stem yield occurs shortly after flowering. As a short-day plant, daylength has a key influence on the timing of flowering in hemp. This paper reports on studies into the effect of photoperiod on the thermal time duration from sowing to flowering for 2 hemp cultivars, and develops parameters to enable simulation of post-emergent phenology in the hemp model described in the final paper of this series. The hemp model divides the post-emergent period into a vegetative phase that ends at floral initiation, a flower development phase (FDP) between flower initiation and appearance, and a short phase between first flower appearance and harvest maturity (male anthesis). The vegetative phase is further divided into a temperature-dependent basic vegetative phase (BVP) and a daylength-dependent photoperiod induced phase (PIP). For a short-day plant, the duration of PIP is assumed to be zero degree days at daylengths below a base or maximum optimum photoperiod (MOP). Daylengths in excess of the MOP lead to an increase in thermal time within PIP, the duration of which is determined by a genotype's photoperiod sensitivity (PS). Two hemp genotypes, Kompolti and Futura 77, were exposed to 6 different photoperiod regimes ranging from 8 to 16 h in a growth chamber. Thermal time durations from emergence to flower initiation and first flower formation (harvest) were calculated from thermograph plots. The flowering responses for the 2 cultivars were typical for a short-day plant, with flowering occurring rapidly in daylengths less than about 14 h and with increasing delay at longer photoperiods. With the exception of a longer thermal time duration from flower formation to harvest maturity in the case of Kompolti, the 2 cultivars had similar values for the key phenology parameters. Respectively, for Futura and Kompolti: BVP was 383 degrees Cd and 390 degrees Cd, MOP was 14 h and 13.8 h, PS was 266 degrees Cd/h and 252 degrees Cd/h, and FDP was 76.8 degrees Cd and 80.2 degrees Cd.