Abstract
Defining growth stages of the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum L.) based on aboveground morphological characteristics could be more practical than using underground characteristics such as tuber size. The applicability of this approach was tested in Cyprus for a spring‐harvested crop sown in a Tera Rosa soil with three different within‐row spacings (15, 25, and 35 cm). The development of various tuber characteristics of three commercial potato cultivars (cvs. “Cara”, “Nicola”, and “Spunta”) was monitored for two growing seasons. The three cultivars represent late, medium, and early maturity classes. Various tuber sizes obtained from each cultivar were related with the number of fully expanded leaves (NFEL) based on linear equations. For individual cultivars, the NFEL appeared to be a reliable aboveground parameter for estimating the size of the largest tuber during the early stages of growth. Defining growth stages based on NFEL could also be a practical approach for the farmers to perform activities, which must be done at a specific developmental stage.
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