Effect of time of budburst and apical shoot growth on flower production in kiwifruit

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between timing of budburst and the growth of the apical shoot was studied with respect to flowerprodoction on individual canes of female kiwifruit vines cv. Hayward (Actinidia deliciosa (A Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson). The results from two experiments in which the growth of the apical shoot was advanced were analysed to see whether advancing the time of budburst of the apical bud reduced flower numbers on buds which burst afterwards, thereby reducing the number of flowers on the whole cane. In the frrst experiment, the apical bud on dormant canes was treated with hydrogen cyanamide to promote early budburst and shoot growth. Although the growth of the apical shoot was advanced, flower production on the whole cane was not significantly reduced. The number of flowers per cane was only weakly correlated with the degree of advancement of apical shoot growth when assessed on a cane-by-cane basis. In the second experiment, apical shoot growth was advanced by warming vines in tem...