Q.What are the parameters used to measure the growth of plants?

Since growth is fundamentally an irreversible, permanent increase in size, it can be quantified by tracking any of several measurable parameters over time: mass, length, area, volume, or cell number/size.

Because growth is a quantitative process, it must be measured in terms of some parameter that changes as the plant (or plant part) enlarges. Commonly used parameters include:

1. Increase in fresh weight — the total weight of a living plant part, though this can fluctuate with water content, so it is a less reliable measure alone.

2. Increase in dry weight — obtained after removing water content (drying the tissue); considered a more reliable/stable measure of actual biomass accumulation than fresh weight.

3. Increase in length — used for growth of roots, shoots, stems, or internodes; commonly measured with instruments like an auxanometer for precise, continuous measurement.

4. Increase in area — particularly used to quantify leaf growth (leaf area).

5. Increase in volume — used especially for growth of structures like fruits, tubers, or the overall plant body.

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