Effects of physiological age and floating plastic film on tuber dry-matter percentage of potatoes,cv. Record

Summary Two experiments investigated the effects of five physilogical ages with and without a floating plastic film on the growth, yield and tuber dry-matter percentage of cv. Record. Samples were taken over a period that represented the early range of harvest dates used in crops destined for crisp manufacture. Plastic film increased final tuber numbers in one experiment but otherwise tuber numbers were not affected by treatments. Tuber yield was incrased by plastic film until August and by advancing physiological age until early July. Within each experiment, tuber drymatter percentage was largely a function of yield. During the main period of tuber bulking, there was a linear relationship between tuber dry-matter percentage and the mean fresh weight of tubers >30 mm when the data from both experiments were combined.