Abstract

Climate variability is increasing the frequency and intensity of drought events, posing a major challenge for wheat production worldwide. Controlled-environment studies are widely used to study drought responses and identify drought-adaptive traits; however, limited rooting volume may limit the ability to replicate open-ground conditions and impede the transferability of experimental findings. This study evaluated the suitability of three pot depths, 25, 35, and 50 cm, corresponding to 5,7 and 10L pot volume for simulating open ground responses of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) in well-watered, gradual drought, and terminal drought conditions. Growth, physiological, and yield traits were compared in pot grown and open-ground-grown plants. Under well-watered conditions, 35 cm (7 L) pots best reproduced flag leaf, grain weight, 1000-grain weight, and harvest index, whereas 50 cm (10 L) pots best reproduced height, chlorophyll index, and relative water content. Under gradual drought, 50 cm (10 L) pots best reproduced height, flag leaf, shoot dry mass, and chlorophyll index, while 35 cm (7 L) pots best reproduced grain-related traits. Under terminal drought conditions, 50 cm (10 L) best reproduced height, flag leaf, shoot dry mass, chlorophyll index, relative water content, and grain number. Overall, the 50 cm (10 L) pot produced the closest overall approximation to open-ground responses across the drought treatments, although the best-performing pot size varied among traits. Future research should evaluate pot volumes larger than 10L to determine whether they better reproduce open ground responses.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Anne Plessis, James Buckley

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2026

Embargo Period

2026-10-17

Deposit Date

October 2026

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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