Results indicate that cellulose and pectin content in involucral bracts were hydrolyzed by cellulase and pectin methylesterase during the inflorescence development from tight bud to full bloom stage.
Plant height (cm) was significantly affected at vegetative stage, pre- bloom stage and harvest stage, but it was recorded more outside tree canopy (open) than below tree canopy (Fig. 2).
The decrease in specific leaf area between vegetative and full bloom stage indicated that leaves became thicker as part of an adaptive mechanism to the surrounding environment.
For SR1, at the vegetative stage, the leaves and stems were green, while at the bloom stage, the calyxes were green, the petals and filaments were pale red, and the anthers as well as the stamens exhibited light green.
Phosphorus content and accumulation in the roots were higher at the harvest stage than at the full bloom stage, but these parameters were lower in the leaves and stems.
The contents of soil available K and inorganic N were significantly augmented from the first bloom stage to the initial boll-opening stage by using PCPC and PCU compared to potassium sulfate and urea treatments.
The results indicated that the N release characteristic of PCU in field condition was closely matched to the N requirements of cotton, the contents of soil nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) were significantly increased from the first bloom stage to the initial boll-opening stage by using PCU compared with urea.
Of all treatments, the highest proportion of biomass was allocated to the roots, whereas the lowest was allocated to the flowers at full bloom stage (on 20 July, 83 days after planting) and leaves at harvest stage (on 16 October, 139 days after planting).
The samples were taken from March to May 2013, including four developmental stages (S1, flower-bud stage; S2, initiating bloom stage; S3, bloom stage; and S4, wither stage).
