[Effects of soil root-growing space on root physiological characteristics and grain yield of sorghum]

In this paper, soil culture was conducted on the Experimental Farm of Shanxi Agricultural University, with the sorghum planted in cylindrical nylon bags to confine the space of root growth but allow the pass-through of water and nutrients, aimed to study the effects of soil root-growing space on the root physiological characteristics and grain yield of sorghum. The results showed that the confinement of root growth space decreased the plant height, leaf area, SOD and POD activities in flag leaf, total root length, root absorbing area, dry weights of root and aboveground part, nutrient uptake and grain yield, but increased the activity of root and its active absorbing area. Fertilization stimulated the root growth under space stress, increased the activity of root and its absorbing area, promoted nutrient uptake, and thus, increased grain yield while decreased the detrimental effects derived from the confine of root growth space.