ISHS Acta Horticulturae 194: International Symposium on Fruit & Vegetables for Processing
THE EFFECT OF PARTIAL DEFOLIATION OF ONION SEEDLINGS ON THEIR SUBSEQUENT GROWTH, YIELD AND KEEPING QUALITY |
| Author: | A.G. Comrie |
| Abstract:
Two onion cultivars (Allium cepa L) Caledon Globe and Australian Brown, were sown at three sowing dates 18 days appart. Leaves of a portion of the seedlings were cut back either one month before transplanting (75% defoliation) or at transplant (25% defoliation) and subsequent growth compared with unpruned control plants. Both defoliation treatments decreased marketable yields, mainly by decreasing mean bulb mass. The depression in yield caused by topping seedlings at transplant increased from 8.4% at the first sowing date to 22.3% at the third, while that caused by defoliation on the seedbed averaged 17% with little difference between sowing dates. Defoliation treatments also affected keeping quality adversely and after 25 weeks storage at ambient temperature the percentage of bulbs sprouted (averaged over sowing dates) was: control 63.3%; defoliated on seedbed 90.4%; topping at transplant 91.3%. | |
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