At 30, 60 and 90 DAT, SPAD chlorophyll meter readings (SCMR) at 0900–1200 h were recorded, using a Minolta SPAD-502 meter (Tokyo, Japan) on two plants in each pot and five plants in each plot of the field experiment. Measurements were made on the second fully expanded leaves from the tops of the main stem. Leaf area was measured once at 90 DAT, using an automatic area meter ACC-400 (Hayashi Denken).