EFFECTS OF JUVENILITY AND TEMPERATURE ON TIME OF CURD INITIATION AND MATURITY OF CAULIFLOWER

Important developmental phase transitions of cauliflower, like end of juvenility and curd initiation were studied in a field situation.
Data were obtained over a 5 years period from a number of crops transplanted at different dates.
Using linear regression analysis the number of leaves characterizing the end of juvenility was determined and appeared to be 17 initiated leaves for cv Delira and 19 for cv Elgon.
Time on which plants resumed growth after transplanting affected the duration of the juvenile phase most.
Variability in time of curd initiation within a cauliflower crop appeared to be mainly due to a variation in time on which the juvenile phase ended.
Time of curd initiation after the end of the juvenile phase depended on temperature; higher temperatures delayed curd initiation and increased the final number of leaves.
The length of the harvest period correlated positively with the length of the curd initiation period.
The explanation for the variation in length of the harvest period improved, when the temperature during curd growth was also considered

VI Symposium on the Timing of Field Production of Vegetables

R. Booij

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.267.38