Summary
Potatoes were grown in plots, pots or containers in a glasshouse or under a rainshelter. Water was withheld from emergence onward or from tuber initiation onward in some treatments. The number of stolons per stem was greatly reduced but the number of tubers + tuber initials per stolon remained unchanged (cv. Radosa) or increased (cv. Bintje) as a result of the earliest drought treatment. The later dry period did not affect numbers of stolons and tubers (+ initials). These findings correspond well with data from field trials which were sampled for 13 consecutive years and which showed a highly significant linear relationship between the number of tubers per stem and total rainfall during the first 40 days after planting, which ranged from 17.5 to 120 mm.
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Haverkort, A.J., Van De Waart, M. & Bodlaender, K.B.A. The effect of early drought stress on numbers of tubers and stolons of potato in controlled and field conditions. Potato Res 33, 89–96 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02358133
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02358133