EFFECT OF WATER MANAGEMENT, FOGGING AND CA FOLIAR APPLICATION ON TIPBURN OF ROMAINE LETTUCE (LACTUCA SATIVA L.) CULTIVATED IN GREENHOUSE

Tipburn is a physiological disorder affecting many field grown-productions including Romaine lettuce.
This disorder occurs before harvest and can cause important economic losses.
Necrosis appear at the margins of young leaves and are often associated with low calcium levels in tissues.
A greenhouse experiment was initiated to determine the influence of drip irrigation, fogging and foliar calcium application to reduce the incidence of tipburn in romaine lettuce.
Romaine lettuce transplants were cultivated into 84-liters plastic container filled with muck soil.
Lettuce transplants were irrigated with a drip irrigation system when the soil matric potential reached -30 kPa.
The split-plot experimental design consisted of six irrigation or fogging treatments in the main plots and foliar application of calcium in sub-plots.
Supplemental lighting was supplied at a PPF of 150 µmol m^-2s^-1 by HPS lamps for a 14-h photoperiod.
Temperatures were maintained at 22°C during the day and at 17°C during the night.
At plant maturity, plant weight, leaf area, number of leaves with or without tipburn and the severity of tipburn symptoms were measured, as well as Ca concentration in young leaves.
Irrigation, fogging and calcium treatments did not significantly decrease tipburn incidence compared to the control treatment.
On the other hand, our results indicated a positive linear correlation between shoot fresh weights and incidence of tipburn.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Greenhouse 2010 and Soilless Cultivation

J. Corriveau, L. Gaudreau, J. Caron, A. Gosselin, S. Jenni

Romaine lettuce, tipburn, irrigation, fogging and calcium

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.927.60