The influence of nitrogen supply on the fertility of the wheat ear

Abstract

Wheat plants were grown at different nitrogen levels that were raised to a uniformly high plane at varying intervals. Nitrogen starvation drastically reduced the number of spikelets initiated on the first ear, but had less effect on the number of florets initiated per spikelet. Final spikelet number was fixed at or about the double ridge stage, but in most cases the overall fertility of the ear was not determined until several weeks later.