Efecto de la irradiancia en el crecimiento Y desarrollo de Aptenia cordifolia (L.f.) Schwantes Como cobertura ornamental

the shading in ornamental plant production is one of the problems that grower faces, because not all species can tolerate this condition. this study aimed to determine the effect of light on growth and morphological development of the baby sun rose (aptenia cordifolia, aizoaceae), a species widely used as ornamental groundcover. a trial was established under shed conditions with plants submitted to three irradiance levels: 1246, 526 and 112 μmol·m-2·s-1. the species showed to have morphological plasticity to adapt to the tested light conditions. the irradiance affected all evaluated variables, except for the dry mass of leaves and the chlorophyll a/b relationship. the height, length and diameter of the branches, number of nodes, internode length, number and size of leaves, petiole length, and content of chlorophyll (a, b and total), along with spad values ？？increased as the irradiance levels were reduced. the total number of branches and branches with more than 10 cm in length were negatively affected by lower irradiances; the number of flowers was reduced by 69 % under the moderate level of irradiance and by 97 % in the lowest level, as compared to the highest level. the shade condition favored the vegetative growth and development at expense of the reproductive structures. from the ornamental standpoint, the shadow produced the most attractive foliage characteristics while the light favored flowering.