Vegetative growth cycles of some mango cultivars in relation to flowering and fruiting.
Shaban A. E. A.
Author Affiliation: Department of Pomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 5 : 751-759
Abstract : This experiment was carried out during the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on four mango cultivars namely Ewais, Sediek, Zebda and Keitt. The experiment was designed to evaluate the three vegetative growth cycles of spring, summer and autumn of these cultivars in relation to flowering and fruiting. Results indicated that, the trees in off year produced higher percentage of vegetative growth cycles than those in on year and the main growth cycle was emerged in the summer this was noticed with all tested cultivars. Vegetative growth cycles emerged in off year was higher in shoot length, number of leaves and leaf area than those emerged in on year. Summer growth cycle recorded the highest significant shoot length, number of leaves and leaf area compared to spring and autumn growth cycles. Generally, the three growth cycles differed in shoot length, number of leaves and leaf area according to bearing habit and cultivars. Summer growth cycle gave the highest flowering percentage followed by spring cycle then autumn cycle which recorded the lowest values. Percentage of perfect flowers and panicle length was significantly higher in on year than off year. The highest percentage of perfect flowers and panicle length was detected in summer growth cycle followed by spring and autumn cycles. Pollen germination percentage was significantly higher in on year than off year. Summer growth cycle recorded the highest pollen germination followed by spring and autumn growth cycles. Keitt and Zebda cultivars recorded higher pollen germination than Sediek cultivar. On the other hand, the lowest pollen germination was achieved with Ewais cultivar. Panicles emerged in on year has significant higher number of fruits at harvest than those emerged in off year. Number of fruits per panicle at harvest varied significantly between the three growth cycles where, the highest value was recorded with summer followed by spring and autumn cycles. The trees in off year produced higher fruit weight than in on year. The maximum fruit weight was presented on summer growth cycle followed by spring growth cycle, while the minimum fruit weight was found on the autumn growth cycle. There were no significant differences in fruit TSS and acidity among the three vegetative growth cycles.