Articles
EFFECT OF PRODUCTION TEMPERATURES ON THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF GREEN ASPARAGUS SPEARS
Changes in the number, opening length, butt diameter and fresh weight of the spears harvested from cv.
Jersey Giant during an 80 day period of field production were related to the mean air temperature in the 5 days prior to spear harvest.
Marketable yield from Jersey Giant related to the number and diameter of the spear produced.
Spear opening length did not change significantly and changes in spear weight were given by those in diameter.
Spear numbers increased as temperatures increased during harvest but at a declining rate over time as crop production restraints increased.
Spear diameter and weight declined linearly with time as temperatures and crop production restraints increased.
Crop restraints on spear number, diameter and weight increased linearly with time as yield accumulated and production reserves declined.
The time pattern of crop production restraints was considered to relate to temperatures through their past effects on the rate of yield accumulation.
It was concluded that comparative descriptions of marketable yield could be derived from production temperature patterns by indexing the level of the crop’s reserves in time to the proportion of the full season’s temperature sum accumulated to date.