A theory on plant growth / the importance of full sun wilting (day wilt)

[DGBAMA]

Theory:
Wilting of the leaves makes them leathery and elastic.....the weight of the leaf causes a stretching of the leaf structure at a near cellular level; enough that the evening recovery phase results in a larger, thicker leafed plant as it rehydrates itself

could also explain why shade grown tobacco has thinner leaves, it is not subjected to the same wilting/stretching/recovery cycle that sun grown tobacco is.

I THINK DAILY SUN WILT MAKES THEM GROW FASTER?


In observing my plants throughout the day I am beginning to think the daily "full sun wilt" plays an important part in how fast they grow, not just a "self preservation" process to keep the plant alive.

None of my leaves are shiny in the morning. A couple hours of hot sun and they are not only wilting/drooping but shiny like they have a coat of oil on them. Once shade comes they perk right back up and most of the "shine" goes away too. The other thing is it seems the plant is visibly larger after recovering from a good "droop cycle" than it was just hours before.


In both the garden and hill patches, it seems the larger plants are the same ones that I have seen with the most "day wilt". and now that some have started growing, those I originally thought were the strongest (did not wilt) are being overtaken in growth by the "wilty" ones.

I am just a first year guy making an observation. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[johnlee1933]

Interesting theory. I go with wilting is caused by cells shrinking a bit as they lose moisture to evaporation thus a softening of the leaf structure and wilting. As the evaporation slows the roots can supply enough moisture so the cells refill and the wilt disappears. For me the size thing is the more sun a plant gets the more it grows. And I could be way off base too.

 

[leverhead]

It's gone to an extreme for me this year. Too much and the bottom leaves yellow, die and fall off. The plant stops growing.

 

[AmaxB]

It's gone to an extreme for me this year. Too much and the bottom leaves yellow, die and fall off. The plant stops growing.

To much what?

 

[leverhead]

To much what?

I'm sorry, too much beer today. I guess it's too much notenough, my soil is so dry some of the plants don't recover overnight.