Residual Effects of Germination Temperature in Sugarcane¹

Abstract

Stalk count, stalk weight, and sugar yield per stool in a first ratoon crop of sugarcane ( Saccharum spp .) were reduced by nonoptimum germination temperature in the planted crop. Nearly the same responses were recorded in a crop vegetatively propagated from stalks of the first ratoon and harvested 37 months after the differential temperatures were applied. Total sugar per stool for the 37‐month period (three crops) ranged from 4.3 to 9.0 kg for original germination temperatures of 10 and 31 C, respectively. The ability to produce high stalk and sugar yields after low temperatures at germination decreased with the amount of time that a given variety had been grown under Florida conditions. Data suggest that nonoptimum germination temperatures, whether too high or too low, may be a factor in yield decline.