The Effects of Wind and Wind-Plus-Sand on Tomato Plants1

Abstract

Seedlings of tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were exposed to winds of 1,340 cm/sec (for 10 and 20 minutes) and wind-plus-sand (10 and 20 minutes; abrasive flux rate, 6 g/cm per minute). Exposing plants to wind alone for 10 and 20 minutes had no effect on stem or leaf anatomy, although 20 minute winds caused desiccated lesions on leaves. Tomatoes, sandblasted for 10 or 20 minutes, developed a secondary endodermis under wounded tissue with wound periderm developing 2 days after wind treatment. Leaf, palisade cell, and leaf midrib thicknesses in plants exposed to 20 minutes of wind-plus-sand were greater than those of the controls. Stems of plants sandblasted for 20 minutes developed an elongated layer of chlorenchyma below the epidermis 21 days after exposure; the layer was doubled that of the controls. Dry weight and net photosynthetic rates were reduced significantly in all plants by all treatments compared with controls except on day 1 after plants were exposed to wind for 10 minutes. Net photosynthetic rates were not significantly different 5 days after treatment, and net respiration rates were not significantly different on either day 1 or 5.