Agriculture & Food, Volume 2, 2014

Abstract: In the experiment possibility of cultivation of sweet basil for a bunch harvest through the whole vegetation period was assessed. The experimental factors were: seed sowing date (22 IV, 6 V, 19 V, 2 VI, 16 VI, 30 VI, 14 VII and 28 VII) and sweet basil cultivar (‘Kasia’ and ’Italiano Classico’). Sweet basil harvest was conducted when the plants attained height of 25-30 cm (entire plants, with the roots, were harvested). After the harvest, measurements of the following features were taken: number of days from sowing to the plant harvest, yield quantity expressed as total weight and bunch weight (each bunch consisted of 10 plants), weight of a single bunch, weight of stems and leaves per a bunch, and leaf participation in a bunch weight. On the base of obtained results it was found that sweet basil cultivar ‘Kasia’was characterized by significantly higher yield (26.74%) in comparison with cultivar ’Italiano Classico’. Moreover, it was proved that cultivation of basil for a bunch harvest from sowing seeds directly into the field, in climatic conditions of Western Pomeranian Region of Poland, is possible for the sowing period from May 6 to June 30. The highest yield was obtained when the seeds were sown on June 2 - yield quantity was 59.13 kg·100 m-2. The sowing date had also an influence on the single bunch weight and the weight of individual parts of the plants in the bunch. The highest participation of leaves in a bunch weight was found for basil cv. ‘Kasia’grown from seeds sown on 30th June (61.3%), while the least for the same cultivar grown from seeds sown on 2nd June. Plants grown from seeds sown on 6th May were characterized by the longest vegetation period which lasted on average 83 day - from sowing to plant harvest date. The shortest vegetation period was noted for plants grown from seeds sown on 16th June.