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The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of a shade treatment on plant growth characteristics, bud break, and spear number of five asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) cultivars (Apollo, Atlas, Grande, UC157, and Walker Deluxe) and determine the most appropriate cultivar for cultivation in a shaded rain-shelter house. For the experiment, two-month-old seedlings were grown in the rain-shelter house with 30% shade using polyethylene film on the roof of the rain-shelter house, whereas the control plants were grown in a rain-shelter house without the additional layer of polyethylene. The shade treatment significantly increased the plant height, shoot number, shoot number per week, and bud number, but did not affect the mean number of days to bud break. The number of spears on asparagus grown in the shade was significantly higher than in the control. Under the shade treatment, Walker Deluxe and UC157 showed significantly higher shoot number and shoot number per week than the other cultivars. Compared to other cultivars, Walker Deluxe produced the highest bud number. In the control condition, Grande produced a higher number of shoots, shoots per week, buds, and roots than in the shade treatment. However, the shade treatment increased the ratio of spear numbers to bud numbers of Grande, resulting in a higher number of spears. Walker Deluxe with shade treatment had higher shoots, shoots per week, buds, roots, and spears than the control. These results suggest that Grande is more suited for growth in a rain-shelter house without shade treatment but that Walker Deluxe is more appropriate for cultivating in a rain-shelter house with 30% shade.

This study was performed to select cultivation systems best-suited for cultivation of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) cultivar 'Atlas' in Korea. Bud break, spear yield, and underground part growth characteristics under two different cultivation systems (rain-shelter and open field) were investigated. Asparagus grown in the rain-shelter greenhouse emerged from dormancy about 10 days earlier than that grown in the open field, and demonstrated a 3-fold higher yield in terms of the number and weight of spears, which increased with increasing plant age. In the analysis of the growth characteristics of the underground part, the mean bud diameter of asparagus grown in the rain-shelter greenhouse was 1.7-fold thicker than those of grown in the open field. Roots of asparagus grown in the open field were lighter but longer than those of asparagus grown in the rain-shelter greenhouse. The higher fresh and dry weight of the roots and larger bud size of asparagus grown in the rain-shelter greenhouse are expected to lead to higher yield in the following year. Selection of cultivation systems that can accelerate bud break and increase spear yield will contribute to increasing farming income. Therefore, growing the 'Atlas' cultivar in the rain-shelter house is expected to lead to higher yield, and will contribute to increasing farming income.