The effect of apical bud removed, pruning and paclobutrazol on vegetative bud-break and flowering of four cultivars of mango.
Pavone R. A., Avilán L., Herrera L.
Author Affiliation: Universidad de los Andes, Núcleo Universitario Rafael Rangel, Trujillo, Venezuela.
Agronomía Tropical (Maracay) 58 : 351-356
Abstract : Field studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of Paclobutrazol (PBZ) and pruning on the growth and development of mango, Mangifera indica L. The experiments were performed in the North-central region of Venezuela, in a ecozone characterized as a Tropical Dry Forest. The experimental site was an orchard consisted of 6-9 year old mango trees belonging to the cultivars Haden, Edward, Springfels and Tommy Atkins, grafted on the 'Criollo' dwarfing rootstock, and planted 6 m × 6 m apart (278 pl h-1). The treatments were a combination of remotion or not of apical, prunning, and application of PBZ: (1) No pruning (control), (2) No pruning+PBZ, (3) 2 m high pruning, (4) 2 m high pruning+PBZ, (5) 2 m high pruning+lateral pruning, (6) 2 m high pruning+thinning. A factorial experiment (6 treatments × 4 cultivars) with three replication was set up in a split-plot randomized complete block design, with treatments as main plot and apical bud removal as a subplot. All trees received potassium nitrate as flowering regulator. The results shown that the different pruning treatments combined with PBZ controlled the size plant, and stimulate developing of new shoots. Also the apical bud remotion, stimulated the developing of more and larger new shoots with more internodes, while no alterations were found on internodes length. Either increasing the number and size of inflorescences.