ISHS Acta Horticulturae 157: Postharvest Handling of Vegetables
REGROWTH OF CABBAGE AXILLARY BUDS |
| Authors: | P.M. Ludford, L. Hillman |
| Abstract:
When decapitated trimmed butts from sampled heads of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) are planted in pots and grown in the greenhouse, regrowth of the axillary buds usually takes place with time, and vegetative growth can be followed by flowering. Investigations were made on the effect of different storage conditions and also of different storage cultivars on the rate and type of bud regrowth. A survey of 20 different cabbage cultivars indicated that some that held well in four months of air storage also tended to have slower regrowth after storage for 4 months. Regrowth was relatively slow for butts from cabbage sampled straight from the field, and also after 4 weeks storage. All plants formed heads and there was no flowering. Therefore regrowth experiments on such heads would not be a useful quick test for storability. After 4 months air storage, regrowth was relatively fast and most plants bolted and flowered, though cultivars could be distinguished by the rate of regrowth and the completeness of flowering. The intermediate storage time of 10 weeks was more interesting and useful, for some cultivars bolted and flowered, while others remained vegetative. A preliminary survey of the effect of controlled atmosphere conditions (CA) in extending storage time of cabbage was reflected in a decline in rate of subsequent regrowth of axillary buds on decapitated cabbage stalks and in the absence of flowering. The presence of 5 ppm ethylene was sufficient to reduce this effect and allowed flowering under CA conditions. | |
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