A comparison of desprouted and late sprouted seed potatoes in relation to apical dominance and tuber production

Abstract

Desprouting and delay in sprouting both result in a partial loss of apical dominance. A comparison of these treatments, with the late sprouted tubers allowed to sprout at the same time as the second growth of sprouts on the desprouted tubers, was made in 3 years in order to test whether the loss of apical dominance from desprouting would have occurred in any case during cool storage or whether additional effects result which can be exploited to increase tuber number. No differences occurred in the number of sprouts or mainstems produced, but there were more lateral branches on the sprouts after desprouting. InArran Pilot (1 experiment) more branch stems resulted from desprouting than late sprouting. The results for tuber production were not conclusive, but do not suggest that desprouting is a worthwhile practice for increasing tuber number.