short-day

[shawrt-dey]

adjective

Botany.

1. requiring a short photoperiod.

short-day

adjective

1. (of plants) able to flower only if exposed to short periods of daylight (less than 12 hours), each followed by a long dark period Compare long-day

Word History and Origins

Origin of short-day¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

In the South, where onions are typically sown in the fall and transplanted to harvest in late spring, short-day varieties are the choice; in the Northeast, where bulb formation happens in the summer from spring transplants, long-day varieties are indicated.

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Short-day onions start forming a bulb when day length reaches 12 to 13 hours.

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Gardeners south of 36 degrees North latitude should be growing short-day onions, and those in between should grow intermediate-day types.

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The strawberries he selected for the company’s first vertical farms in New Jersey are known as “short-day cultivars.”

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Most growers plant June-bearing strawberries, which are strongly affected by day-length and only initiate flower buds under short-day conditions, resulting in a brief period of fruit production.

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