Only at night

[bonsai barry]

I think I once read that trees only grow at night. During the day, all energy is spent in photosythensis, so growing take place at night. Can anyone verify or refute this statement?

 

[grouper52]

I think I once read that trees only grow at night. During the day, all energy is spent in photosythensis, so growing take place at night. Can anyone verify or refute this statement?

Define "growth", please. Are you talking about the gross extension of length on leaves and shoots and such, or branch/trunk thickening? Or perhaps basic metabolic and cellular functions such as DNA and cell replication, manufacturing of proteins and cytoskeletal and extracellular structural molecules, manufacturing of storage molecules and structures, etc? Is the "spending of energy" growth? And what energy is "spent" in photosynthesis, which is actually the capturing and retention of energy (and matter) in a net positive reaction?

grouper52

 

[Rick Moquin]

Brilliant response, now pass the freaking dictionary

 

[bonsai barry]

Brilliant response, now pass the freaking dictionary

hmmm. Ask a silly questions and you get a silly answer. My four year old daughter doesn't need a dictionary to define growth. Grow means grow.

 

[grouper52]

hmmm. Ask a silly questions and you get a silly answer. My four year old daughter doesn't need a dictionary to define growth. Grow means grow.

Then ask your daughter.

IMO, photosynthesis, which is a process of accumulation of both energy and matter, is as much "growth" as anything else a tree does. I believe a tree, except when very dormant, is ALWAYS in a process of growth of one sort or another. If you just mean shoot and leaf extension and such, that's another matter.

g52

 

[Chris Johnston]

Funny, but a fast-growing species would be the easiest way to tell. I have ficus and trident maples that will show new extension growth and leaf growth by the end of the day from what I have seen in the morning.

 

[Anonymous User]

Unless they are totally dormant, trees can and do grow at anytime of the day, taking into consideration that roots also grow in total darkness.

A good book.



Will

 

[Rick Moquin]

A good book.



Will

A good book indeed