Articles
A new nursery system for the production of high-quality propagating tubers of Zantedeschia in the Netherlands
Article number
1435_7
Pages
59 – 66
Language
English
Abstract
The cultivation of Zantedeschia tubers (calla lily) in the Netherlands takes place from March to October.
In vitro culture plantlets are used as the starting material for tuber production.
This material is grown aseptically indoors only during the first year.
Thereafter, it is grown for 1-2 years in the open field into propagating tubers.
A high-quality propagating tuber should be healthy, have many eyes (shoot meristems), have a circumference larger than 6 cm, and have high dry matter content.
The goal of this study was to develop a new nursery cultivation system for the production of high-quality and virus-free propagating tubers in half of the current timeframe. plantlets produced in vitro were used as the starting material.
The experiments took place from 2020 to 2023 at the Wageningen Plant Research – Greenhouse Horticulture & Flower Bulbs Center.
Several greenhouse parameters were investigated to maximize tuber growth, such as light intensity, light spectrum and temperature.
Photosynthetic activity and tuber yield were assessed.
The results demonstrate the feasibility of producing clean propagating-size tubers within a year using two greenhouse cycles: a short winter cycle (November-March) at 17°C and a regular summer cycle at 22°C. The winter cycle uses a PAR sum of 13.5 mol m‑2 day‑1 for optimal tuber growth.
These tubers are stored at 20°C for two months, multiplied in May and directly re-planted.
During the second cycle, natural sunlight is primarily used, except when the minimum PAR sum is not reached.
This nursery system could reduce dramatically the amount of chemical crop protection currently used in the Netherlands for the production of commercial Zantedeschia tubers.
In vitro culture plantlets are used as the starting material for tuber production.
This material is grown aseptically indoors only during the first year.
Thereafter, it is grown for 1-2 years in the open field into propagating tubers.
A high-quality propagating tuber should be healthy, have many eyes (shoot meristems), have a circumference larger than 6 cm, and have high dry matter content.
The goal of this study was to develop a new nursery cultivation system for the production of high-quality and virus-free propagating tubers in half of the current timeframe. plantlets produced in vitro were used as the starting material.
The experiments took place from 2020 to 2023 at the Wageningen Plant Research – Greenhouse Horticulture & Flower Bulbs Center.
Several greenhouse parameters were investigated to maximize tuber growth, such as light intensity, light spectrum and temperature.
Photosynthetic activity and tuber yield were assessed.
The results demonstrate the feasibility of producing clean propagating-size tubers within a year using two greenhouse cycles: a short winter cycle (November-March) at 17°C and a regular summer cycle at 22°C. The winter cycle uses a PAR sum of 13.5 mol m‑2 day‑1 for optimal tuber growth.
These tubers are stored at 20°C for two months, multiplied in May and directly re-planted.
During the second cycle, natural sunlight is primarily used, except when the minimum PAR sum is not reached.
This nursery system could reduce dramatically the amount of chemical crop protection currently used in the Netherlands for the production of commercial Zantedeschia tubers.
Authors
N.M. Moreno-Pachón, P.J. van Leeuwen, A. Kromwijk, P.M.M. Ruigrok, K. Weerheim
Keywords
calla lily, LED, photosynthesis, tuber biomass, PAR sum
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