The effect of plant spacing and time of harvesting on fiber yield of ramie, Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaud

Because of the apparent need of determining the cultural practices for production of ramie under Cuban conditions experiments were started in the spring of 1944 at the Cuban Agricultural Experiment Station with emphasis on the effect of plant-spacing and time of harvesting on growth and yield of fiber. Using Boehmeriaa nivea type C, the most productive of 14 types tested at the Experiment Station, spacing treatments consisted of plants set 12, 18, and 24 inches apart in rows 2, 3, and 4 feet in width. After the first harvest, successive harvests were to have been made 60, 90, and 120 days later, but the plantings were destroyed by a hurricane before the 120-day harvest was made. Although the average production of all spacing treatments for the 90-day harvest was 580 pounds of degummed fiber per acre as compared to an average of 435 pounds for the 60-day harvest, these first year results are inconclusive with regard to recommendations on time of harvesting. Because of a number of factors involved, time of harvesting and the interval between successive harvests are problems which require continuous investigation over a period of years before accurate conclusions may be drawn. Contrary to fiber plants such as hemp and kenaf, data are presented which show that the percentage of fiber of the green weight of ramie stems does not increase with age of the stems. On the other hand, the percentage of fiber may vary from one crop to another. As far as percentage of fiber is concerned, harvesting may be done any time, but, depending upon fiber quality, should be delayed until the ultimate height of the crop is reached for maximum production of fiber per unit of land. With regard to the effect of plant spacing on yield, the average production of fiber from all spacings of the 3-foot rows of the 60-day harvest was 6 and 24% greater than for the 2- and 4-foot rows, respectively. For the 90-day harvest, production from the 3-foot rows was 8 and 31% greater than for the 2- and 4-foot rows, respectively. Slightly larger yields from plants spaced 12 and 18 inches apart in the row than from plants spaced 24 inches apart were not sufficient to pay the cost of the additional plants needed for the closer spacings.