ESITMATION OF THE RAISING TEMPERATURE AT TIME OF BOLTING OF CHINESE CABBAGE

Bolting of Chinese cabbage after purchase of transplants often causes legal quarrels between buyer and transplant producer. Precocious bolting may be due to low temperatures during raising or after planting of transplants. The number of leaves at the time of bolting may give support to decisions in this quarrel. The total number of leaves from the first foliage leaf to the one before the last branching of the inflorescence is used as criterion. After 3 to 4 weeks of raising at >18°C and a transplant weight of 1 g or 4–5 foliage leaves > 1 cm the minimum number of leaves averaged 57 for 13 cultivars. According to experiments these means ranged from 46 to 64 leaves for the different cultivars examined.