DETERMINE THE MOST APPROPRIATE DATE FOR PLANTING BROCCOLI (BRASSICA OLERACEAE L. VAR. ITALICA) SEEDS IN NINEVEH GOVERNORATE
The experiment was carried out in the vegetable field of Horticulture and Landscape Department / College of Agriculture and Forestry / University of Mosul, during the 2020-2021 season, to study the effect of five planting dates (1/8, 10/8, 15/8, 20/8 and 1/9) on vegetative growth and yield of broccoli (Matsuri) variety. The study was carried out in a simple experiment in a randomized complete block design(R.C.B.D), with three replications. The results showed that the second planting date (10 /8) recorded the highest values in chlorophyll content in leaves, Plant height, number of leaves per plant, and leaf area with a significant differences compared to the rest planting dates. Regarding to the yield traits, also the second planting date (10 /8) recorded the highest values in average weight of main curds, total yield of main curds, number of secondary curds, average weight of secondary curds, main curd circumference, plant and total yield of secondary curds, plant and total yield of main and secondary curds. Plants of the second and third planting dates showed a significant decrease in the number of days needed to form the main curds in comparison with the plants of the other planting dates, while the number of days needed to ripen 20% of the main curds was significantly reduced in the case of plants grown in the second and third dates compared to the plants grown in the first and fourth dates.
Keywords: Broccoli, Curds, Chlorophyll, Planting Dates.