Short and long term vegetative growth response to temperature, interpreted by the dynamics of a carbohydrate storage

•A simple growth model with a dynamic carbohydrate storage is developed.•A distinction is made between supply-limited and demand-limited growth.•Reversible acclimation is described via the dynamics of the carbohydrate storage.•Observed correlations between carbohydrate content and rate of growth are explained.•Dark-respiration responses to short- and long-term temperature effects are explained.

Growth models are an important element of rational crop management. In an attempt to produce a model suitable for greenhouse environmental-control, we further develop an available model with variable storage of non-structural carbohydrate (NSC). The model considers the supply and demand of carbohydrate and can simulate the daily storage cycle as well as long term transient acclimation processes. Model predictions agree qualitatively rather well with whole-plant experimental correlations between NSC content and growth, and with measured growth as a function of temperature. The model also mimics successfully both the short- and the long-term effects of temperature on respiration. This is achieved by expressing growth respiration as a product of (1) a function of the NSC content (representing the long-term effect of temperature), and (2) a function of the current temperature (representing the short-term effect). The use of the model as a control tool by the grower is outlined.