Dog Ma /15/05
reply w/o spam

>> Wouldn't limiting light reduce the amount of cloriphil (sp?) produced in
> the
>> leaf? After all, if you leave your house plants in a dark closet, they
> will
>> turn pale yellow. Tulip shoots newly poking from the earth are yellow
> until
>> they get a dose of sun, at which time they turn green. I'd think it'd be
> the
>> opposite.
>
> Works both ways, actually. Complete shading results in etiolation, or
> bleaching - plant doesn't bother trying to make chlorophyll. Probably thinks
> it's still underground, and grows leggy instead. If light is too strong, it
> will also produce less chlorophyll, as less is needed to capture the
> required energy. Look at a shade-tolerant plant like a big-leaf rhododendron
> growing in full sun: the exposed leaves tend to be yellowish, where those
> deep inside may be full green.
>
> Clever lady, Mother Nature.
>
> -DM
>
>
So, the shading causes the plant to produce more clorophyll to capture more
energy, as it were? Very clever, indeed.

Michael