Effect of physiological age on growth vigour of seed potatoes of two cultivars. 3. Effect on plant growth under controlled conditions

Abstract

Experiments were carried out to characterize growth vigour of lots of seed potatoes of different age. The influence on plant growth under controlled conditions of the physiological age of seed tubers stored at 4°C or 12°C in darkness, was studied in three experiments with cultivars Jaerla and Desiree, as part of a combined study on the effect of physiological age on growth vigour. Seed tubers of the same lots were desprouted, allowed to resprout for a week and then planted in growth rooms under controlled conditions and harvested two months after planting. This procedure was repeated on several dates, i.e. after increasingly long storage periods. With young seed tubers, plants developed slowly and remained small. At later plantings there was more foliage growth but after prolonged storage (i.e. when the seed tubers were old) little or no foliage developed, but often ‘little potato’ tubers were formed. However, Desiree seed stored at 4°C formed plants even after more than a year. The higher storage temperature generally hastened the physiological ageing of seed tubers. The effects of storage duration and temperature on various growth characteristics of both cultivars are described.