Floral initiation in sorghum hastened by gibberellic acid and far-red light

Combinations of far-red light (FR) (4 min) and gibberellic acid (GA3), given at the beginning of a daily 12-h dark period in a growth room, were used to study floral induction in four maturity genotypes of the milo group of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). The 12-h dark period without GA3 application or FR induced flowering in only the early genotype; FR hastened initiation in the early genotype, while GA3 hastened floral initiation in the two intermidiate-flowering genotypes. GA3 and FR together had a strong synergistic effect, hastening floral initiation by 30 to more than 80 d in the early and intermediate genotypes. Red light (R) did not hasten flowering; FR preceded by R gave the same effect as FR alone. GA3 promoted stem elongation equally whether floral initiation occurred or not; thus, its effect on stem elongation was independent of floral initiation. The capacity of GA3 to induce flowering in sorghum, a short-day plant, seems to be enhanced by phytochrome being in the PR form at the beginning of the night when GA3 was applied.