The purpose of this research was to define a plant management for the improvement of high quality off-shoots production in two artichoke cultivars grown in Apulia region (Southern Italy): ‘Brindisino’ and ‘Violetto di Provenza’. A mother-plant (MP) field was settled on October 2004 in a hilly area in Foggia province (Apulia, Southern Italy). They were evaluated three techniques for MP management: a) traditional (Trad): MP were treated as in a commercial field (two off-shoots per plant were allowed to growth and to produce heads); b) apex removal (AR): removal of all off-shoots except one, on which the apex was removed when it differentiated from vegetative to reproductive phase; c) shoot removal (SR): removal of all standard (hereinafter described) off-shoots. From autumn 2005 to spring 2008, six pickings (3 in autumn and 3 in spring) of standard off-shoots (> 2 cm basal diameter and 5-6 fully expanded leaves) were carried out. At each picking, the off-shoots/plant and their position on the rhizome, their leaf number, height, and leaf lamina shape (margin) [entire (E), slight lobed (SL), deeply lobed (DL)], were recorded. The off-shoots picked on November 2005 and April 2006 were rooted under nursery conditions for 2 months and then were transplanted in field to evaluate the earliness and the productivity of the plants obtained from them. They were picked 108,000, 90,000 and 38,000 off-shoots/ha, for the treatment SR, AR and Trad, respectively. Unrespectively of picking time, the control plants (Trad) always produced 4 off-shoots, while in AR-plants the older the plants the higher the number of off-shoots that, at the same time, were more deeply inserted on the rhizome, with higher basal diameter, and with higher number of roots. Especially in the first year, the SR treatment caused alternate high-low number of off-shoots at each subsequent picking, even if the earliness in head production was anticipated by 23 days compared to the other treatments.
Globe Artichoke Mother-Plant Management for the Production of High Quality Offshoots
CONVERSA, GIULIA;la Rotonda, Paolo;ELIA, ANTONIO
2012-01-01
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to define a plant management for the improvement of high quality off-shoots production in two artichoke cultivars grown in Apulia region (Southern Italy): ‘Brindisino’ and ‘Violetto di Provenza’. A mother-plant (MP) field was settled on October 2004 in a hilly area in Foggia province (Apulia, Southern Italy). They were evaluated three techniques for MP management: a) traditional (Trad): MP were treated as in a commercial field (two off-shoots per plant were allowed to growth and to produce heads); b) apex removal (AR): removal of all off-shoots except one, on which the apex was removed when it differentiated from vegetative to reproductive phase; c) shoot removal (SR): removal of all standard (hereinafter described) off-shoots. From autumn 2005 to spring 2008, six pickings (3 in autumn and 3 in spring) of standard off-shoots (> 2 cm basal diameter and 5-6 fully expanded leaves) were carried out. At each picking, the off-shoots/plant and their position on the rhizome, their leaf number, height, and leaf lamina shape (margin) [entire (E), slight lobed (SL), deeply lobed (DL)], were recorded. The off-shoots picked on November 2005 and April 2006 were rooted under nursery conditions for 2 months and then were transplanted in field to evaluate the earliness and the productivity of the plants obtained from them. They were picked 108,000, 90,000 and 38,000 off-shoots/ha, for the treatment SR, AR and Trad, respectively. Unrespectively of picking time, the control plants (Trad) always produced 4 off-shoots, while in AR-plants the older the plants the higher the number of off-shoots that, at the same time, were more deeply inserted on the rhizome, with higher basal diameter, and with higher number of roots. Especially in the first year, the SR treatment caused alternate high-low number of off-shoots at each subsequent picking, even if the earliness in head production was anticipated by 23 days compared to the other treatments.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
