Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) head initiation under field conditions

Abstract

A two–year study on the influence of temperature on broccoli head initiation was carried out at the ''Marcelin'' experimental station of the Poznań University of Life Sciences. In each year of the study, plants were planted in the field at four dates. The evaluation of the developmental phase of the broccoli shoot apex was based on the analysis of microscope slides. The date of head initiation was assumed as the day on which the first of the examined apices were found to be at the early generative phase. The plant characteristics (number of leaves, leaf area and stem diameter) on the date of initiation were also determined. Variation in length of the period from planting to head initiation was found both between dates of planting and between experimental years. The shortest period from planting to initiation was when the plants were planted in April and June (17-18 days) in the first year and the longest one for planting in April in the first year of the study (29 days). The length of the period from planting to head initiation depended on mean daily air temperature. The higher the temperature was, the shorter was the period.