Abstract
Cultivation of mild-tasting dandelion types for salad use has been
studied as one part of an investigation aimed at evaluation the possible
uses of dandelion. Eleven Finnish agamospecies were compared with two
middle-European varieties, ’Vollherziger, verbesserter’ and ’Vertde
Montmagny’in regard to preferred methods of cultivation as well as to
yield level and quality properties. Further, suitability and effects of
the culturing methods were studied, the main variables being level of
fertilization and use of various coverings to bleach the rosettes. Of
the cultivation properties, particularly the earliness, flowering,
winter hardiness, vigour of growth and resistance against diseases and
pests were considered. The yields in spring varied between about 50 and
150 kg/are. When growth was in light the bitterness of all the
agamospecies and varieties studied was only slight and when effective
covering was used bitterness was in significant. The sensory quality
varied somewhat depending on the agamospecies or variety and method of
cultivation, being at best very good and at worst satisfactory. In the
conditions studied, the higher level of fertilization was too high. The
single black film, the black fibre cloth and thick bark humus layer were
all suitable coverings. Though they decreased the yield (at least when
calculated as dry matter), the coverings improved the taste and texture
of the rosettes. With film and fibre cloth, rosettes were somewhat more
greenish and yields better than with bark humus. The humus also made the
rosettes more succulent and crisp, so that the texture was improved.
This method is laborious, however, and better suited for home gardening
than commercial cultivation. Of the agamospecies and varieties studied,
the best for cultivation in light were Taraxacum hemicyclum, T.
lanyphyllum, ’Vollherziger verbesserter’ and ’Vert de Montmagny. For
cultivation under covering the best were ’Vert de Montmagny’, T.
hemicyclum and T. pallidipes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 9-22 |
Journal | Journal of the Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1984 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |