The effect of different levels of irrigation and planting date on some physiological and growth traits of Cymbopogon citratus

In order to investigate the effect of dehydration stress and planting date on some physiological indices and growth of Cymbopogon citratus, a field experiment in the form of a split plot in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications, including 3 levels of different irrigation (100% full irrigation as a control, 75 and 50% full irrigation) and 3 levels of planting date including 20 May, 30 May and 10 June in Rahdar Rudan area in Hormozgan province in 1399. In this study, physiological growth traits including LAI (leaf area index), CGR (crop growth rate), NAR (net uptake rate), LAD (leaf area durability), plant height, wet and dry plant yield along with chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll , carotenoids, soluble carbohydrates and proline were examined. The results showed that drought treatment was significant in all the studied traits at the level of 1%. Also, planting date was significant in total chlorophyll, carotenoids, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, soluble carbohydrates and proline but did not have any effect on plant height, wet and dry plant yield. On the other hand, the interaction between drought and planting date had caused significant changes in total chlorophyll, carotenoids and chlorophyll a and soluble carbohydrates. Drought treatment reduced leaf area, crop growth rate, net uptake rate and leaf area of Lemongrass grass by 50%, but the treatments of planting date had no effect on the physiological traits of Lemongrass plant growth. Therefore, it can be concluded that Lemongrass is a plant that is resistant to mild stress but sensitive to severe stress.