Abstract
The research was carried out at the Hydroponic Station of the Agronomy School of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, in Marin, NL Mexico. Tender pad cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Mill.) cultivar 'Villanueva' was planted at a density of 16 plants m -2 . The aims of this study were: a) to estimate the tender pad cactus yield and, b) to determinate the increment of the fresh weight, dry matter, and nitrogen accumulation rate as a function of the air temperature (degree-days). Total cactus yield at 56 days after plantation, based on the fresh weight and dry matter production was 4.265 kg m -2 and 0.2252 kg m -2 , respectively, while the total nitrogen uptake in the same period was 4.36 kg m -2 . The relationship of fresh weight, dry matter and nitrogen uptake to degree-days was a first degree polynomial with R 2 0.9924, 0.9948, and 0.9887 (p<0.001) determination coefficient per research parameter, respectively. The increased production rate of fresh tender pad cactus and dry matter content was 0.004 and 0.0002 kg m -2 (degree-days) -1 , respectively while the nitrogen accumulation rate was estimated to be 0.0228 g m -2 (degree-days) -1 .
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