Question

In tea plantations and hedge making, gardeners trim the plants regularly so that they remain bushy. The scientific explanation behind this is
(a)Removal of apical dominance
(b)Growth of lateral buds
(c)Suppression of lateral buds
(d)Both (a) and (b)

Answer 1

Hint: There is a plant hormone found at the tips of the apical buds and it is responsible for the increase in length of the plants but it affects the growth of lateral buds.

Complete answer:
Auxin is a hormone found at the tip of the stem in plants. Its role is to establish apical dominance and to inhibit lateral bud growth. That is why gardeners periodically trim the plants so the plant grows laterally and stays bushy after the auxin has been removed.
Apical dominance is the phenomenon by which the main central stem is dominant over the lateral stem. The main role of the auxin is to increase the stem length (i.e.,) it is involved in the stem elongation and thus will inhibit the growth of the lateral stems. A large number of plants have a lateral bud which is situated near the nodes. These buds are embryonic meristematic cells that are maintained in the dormant state by the auxin. When the auxin is removed from the shoot tip by trimming the plants near the tip of the stem (removal of apical dominance), then the dormant buds will become active and will grow laterally thereby allowing the plants to become bushy.
So, the correct answer is ‘Both (a) and (b)’.

Note: In this answer, we have seen that auxins are removed from the plants during tea plantations. However, on the contrary, Indole-3 acetic acid and indole butyric acid is used extensively in tea plantations. They are the synthetic hormones of plants that are essential in tea planting. Indole-3-acetic acid and indole butyric acid are two separate types of synthetic auxin that encourage rooting when combined in MS media (plant media) with a ratio of 1.0 mg per liter.