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Dormancy and apical dominance of different sizes of potato tubers

The size of potato tubers produced in the same hill is an indicator of the physiological age and the time required to break dormancy and apical dominance, which is essential for the proper post-harvest management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the period of dormancy and apical dominance of different tuber sizes of three potato clones produced in the fall and submitted to two storage temperatures. Field produced tubers were harvested from ten hills per clone. The tubers were individually identified and assessed for fresh weight, length and major and minor diameters. One lot of five hills per clone was stored at 10°C and other at 20°C±2 and 85±5% relative humidity for 170 days. Breaking of dormancy and apical dominance were recorded when the tuber produced, respectively, one or two sprouts. The experiment was a factorial of three clones (SMINIA00017-6, SMIJ461-1 and Asterix), two storage temperatures (10 and 20°C) and three types of tubers (smaller diameter less than 35mm, between 35 and 45mm and larger than 45mm) in a completely randomized design. In conclusion, the results showed that physiological age varies with the size of the potato tubers, and tubers with diameter smaller than 35mm have longer dormancy than those larger than 35mm. Moreover, the storage temperature of 20°C is more effective to break the dormancy than the apical dominance.

Solanum tuberosum L.; potato seeds; physiological age; storage; sprouting


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