Studies on effects of short day with and without ringing on reproductive growth, sex expression and yield of mango.
Maiti S. K., Maiti S. C., Sen P. K.
Author Affiliation: Calcutta University, Calcutta-700 019, India.
Indian Agriculturist 25 : 109-118
Abstract : Two-year trials were carried out with mature trees of the mango cv. Langra, with a tendency to biennial bearing. Short days (8-h) were applied to some branches by shading them for one month during 3 different periods of each year. Some shoots were ringed. Short days significantly reduced panicle length and width and decreased the total number of flowers, whereas ringing significantly increased panicle width in both years, and augmented the number of flowers/panicle in one year. Both ringing and short days, irrespective of the time of application (mid-April to mid-December), significantly increased the percentage of hermaphrodite flowers in both years, with ringing being more effective. The earlier the application of short days and/or ringing the higher was the number of hermaphrodite flowers. Ringing increased the fruit yield in both years regardless of daylength whereas short days decreased it.