Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T18:03:39.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationships between the times of transplanting, curd initiation and maturity in cauliflower

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. C. E. Wurr ,
J. R. Fellows  and
R. W. P. Hiron
D. C. E. Wurr
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Horticultural Research, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9EF, UK
J. R. Fellows
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Horticultural Research, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9EF, UK
R. W. P. Hiron
Affiliation:
Kirton Experimental Horticulture Station, Kirton, Boston PE20 1EJ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In order to determine the accuracy of controlling the time of maturity of a cauliflower crop by regulating the planting date, a series of transplantings of the variety White Fox was grown on a range of sites over 3 years and sampled throughout growth.

The time from transplanting to maturity and the time from curd initiation to maturity were both quadratically related to the time of transplanting but there were marked differences in the relationships between years. Differences between years in the time taken to reach maturity tended to increase with later transplanting; for example, cauliflower crops transplanted in May took between 77 and 94 days to mature, while those transplanted in July matured in as few as 67 or as many as 106 days. These differences resulted from a combined effect of the time taken to satisfy the vernalization requirement and the duration of curd growth, both of which are temperature-mediated and therefore subject to seasonal and annual variation. Differences in the vernalization requirements of different cauliflower crops are illustrated by the number of leaves formed before curd initiation, which varied from 22·5 to 37·3.

Variation in the time to maturity between crops transplanted at similar times of the year, in the same and different years, resulted in large deviations from planned production programmes and it is suggested that a complementary technique to aid crop marketing would be prediction of the time of crop maturity. However, the data collected in this study show that predictions based on the duration of crop growth from transplanting or curd initiation are unlikely to be sufficiently accurate and it is argued that predictions should be based on changes in curd dimensions with time.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 114 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 193 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anon. (1946). Tables for the Evaluation of Daily Values of Accumulated Temperature above and below 42°F from Daily Values of Maximum and Minimum Temperature. Leaflet No. 10. London: Meteorological Office.Google Scholar
Arnold, C. Y. (1959). The determination and significance of the base temperature in a linear heat unit system. Proceedings of the American Society for Horticultural Science 74, 430–445.Google Scholar
Boou, R. (1987). Environmental factors in curd initiation and curd growth of cauliflower in the field. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 35, 435–445.Google Scholar
Brewster, J. L. (1987). Vernalization in the onion – a quantitative approach. In Manipulation of Flowering (Ed. Atherton, J. G.), pp. 171–183. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Martin, M. D. (1985). A programme for continuity. Grower 103, 15–19.Google Scholar
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1973). EEC Standards for Fresh Cauliflowers. London: MAFF.Google Scholar
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1985). Vegetable Propagation in Cellular Trays. Leaflet 909, London: MAFF.Google Scholar
Salter, P. J. (1960). The growth and development of early summer cauliflower in relation to environmental factors. Journal of Horticultural Science 35, 21–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, P. J. (1969). Studies on crop maturity in cauliflower. I. Relationship between the times of curd initiation and curd maturity of plants within a cauliflower crop. Journal of Horticultural Science 44, 129–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiebe, H.-J. (1978). Simulation model for forecasting the harvest time of cauliflower. Abstract No. 1808, XXth International Horticultural Congress, Sydney.Google Scholar
Wurr, D. C. E., Elphinstone, E. D. & Fellows, J. R. (1988). The effect of plant raising and cultural factors on the curd initiation and maturity characteristics of summer/autumn cauliflower crops. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 111, 427–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wurr, D. C. E., Fellows, J. R. & Suckling, R. F. (1988). Crop continuity and prediction of maturity in the crisp lettuce variety Saladin. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 111, 481–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wurr, D. C. E., Fellows, J. R., Sutherland, R. A. & Elphinstone, E. D. (in press). A model of cauliflower curd growth to predict when curds reach a specified size. Journal of Horticultural ScienceGoogle Scholar