SEED PRODUCTION METHODS AND YIELD CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORENCE FENNEL HEADS (FOENICULUM VULGARE MILL. VAR. AZORICUM THELL.)

“Seed” production of Florence fennel may be obtained by three method: a) seed to seed with intact plant; b) seed to seed gathering the head at maturity and leaving the tap-root in situ; c) root to seed. “Seed” yield with the intact plant method is higher than with the root to seed one. But normally local growers produce seed by transplanting a portion of tap-root after the head is cut and sold, in the belief that seeds from intact plant are not good for “crown” production. In this experiment the effect has been evaluated of three different seed production methods on yield and quality of head over two years. In the second year, every 14 days beginning 54 days after sowing (DAS) and until head maturity, the following characters were measured: fresh, dry weight and height of plant, number of leaves, crown and head diameter, CGR and RGR. In the first year the weight of plant, weight of head and the marketable yield was lower than in the second. This was due largely to the high percentage of heads with weight < 250 g (heads are marketable when their weight is >250 g and shape is nearly spherical). In both years, the seed production method did not influence the marketable yield and time of head harvest. In the second year the height of plants increased until 94 DAS while stem diameter increased until harvest time. Plant dry weight using root to seed method was lower 112 DAS and at harvest. CGR increased considerably during the interval 112–125 DAS (14 days before harvest) and it was higher for a and b methods and lower for c (28.6 vs. 16.3 g m^-2 d^-1).