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Home » Products And Services » Vegetable Hybrids » Onions » Capricorn F1 Hybrid – Intermediate Day – Brown Onion

Capricorn (F1 Hybrid – Intermediate Day – Brown Onion)

OUTSTANDING QUALITIES

  • Unique sowing and marketing period
  • Mid-maturing intermediate day brown onion
  • High heat tolerance – adapted to high temperature conditions during summer production
  • Excellent quality – attractive, medium to large, globe shaped bulbs
  • High yielder

Capricorn is a mid-maturing, intermediate day, brown onion variety with a distinctive sowing period. The latter characteristic makes Capricorn highly sought after as it enables producers to penetrate a unique onion marketing period with high quality bulbs. Capricorn’s bulbs are uniform, firm and globe shaped with an attractive brown skin. In addition, Capricorn has a good storage potential, enabling producers to market the bulbs over an extended period. Capricorn has a vigorous root system with intermediate resistance against Pink root/Pt (Phoma terrestris syn. Pyrenochaeta terrestris).

SPECIAL VARIETAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Recommended for production around the 23.5° latitude line, Tropic of Capricorn.
  • Suggested sowing period is from week 45 to week 50 (November and December) in the areas of Limpopo province, Botswana and Namibia near this latitude line

CHARACTERISTIC*

CAPRICORN

KIND AND TYPE

F1 hybrid, mid season, intermediate day brown onion (Allium cepa L.)

MATURITY

Medium, 21 to 26 weeks after direct seeding. Maturity depends on sowing date, production location and seasonal variations (photoperiod and temperature)

BULB SHAPE

Globe to high globe

BULB SIZE

Medium to large (50 – 90 mm) – bulb size is influenced by the plant population

BULB UNIFORMITY (SHAPE AND SIZE)

Very good

BULB NECK SIZE AND QUALITIES

Medium to fine (thin) and tight

BULB FIRMNESS

Very good

BULB TUNIC (SKIN/SCALE LEAF) COLOUR

Excellent colour: brown

TUNIC RETENTION AND QUALITY

Very good and tough

STORABILITY/SHELF LIFE

Good (3½ to 4 months) – enables producers to market bulbs over an extended period. Storage potential depends on the storage conditions (temperature and relative humidity).

FLESH COLOUR

White

TASTE

Mildly pungent

LEAF/FOLIAGE HEALTH AND GROWTH HABIT

Good and upright

LEAF/FOLIAGE COLOUR

Green

BOLTING REACTION

Slow – high tolerance (depends on/related to the sowing date)

DISEASE RESISTANCE (SCIENTIFIC)

Intermediate resistance: Phoma terrestris (Pt)

GROWING AREA

Grown between 22.5 – 24.5° latitude. However, the optimum production area is near the 23.5° latitude line, Tropic of Capricorn. Suggested sowing period is from week 45 to week 50 (November and December) in the areas of Limpopo province, Botswana and Namibia close to this latitude line.

AVERAGE SEED COUNT

220 – 320 seeds per gram or 220 000 – 320 000 seeds per kilogram

SUGGESTED SOWING DENSITY

Density depends on the size requirement of the bulbs and the target market/uses of the final product, however we suggest:

Final population of 750 000 – 950 000 plants per hectare

SEED REQUIREMENT PER HECTARE

Direct sowing: 900 000 to 1 200 000 seeds per hectare / 3.5 – 4.0 kg seed per hectare

MARKET USES

Bunched, fresh market, pre-pack and processing

SPECIAL FEATURES, BENEFITS AND REMARKS

Excellent yield potential. Unique summer sowing period during November and December (week 45 to week 50) in areas of Limpopo province, Botswana and Namibia around the Tropic of Capricorn latitude line.