RELATION BETWEEN STEM NUMBER AND DIAMETER, PLANT HEIGHT AND VIGOR ANDYIELD OF ASPARAGUS

The evaluation of spear yield of asparagus requires time and money. St alk number and diameter, plant vigor and height, and spear yield were evaluated, in order to determine correlations among such variables. Cu ltivars and hybrids constituted by staminate and pistillate plants or only by staminate plants were compared. In the first case, yield was p ositively correlated with all variables, except stalk number. In stami nate plants, however, spear yield was positively correlated only with plant vigor. In both cases, vigor and number of stalks with diameter l arger than 8 mm presented the highest contribution to spear yield.