Foliar-applied GA3 Advances Fruit Maturity and Allows Off-season Harvest of ‘Hass’ Avocado

Abstract

Michoacán and Nayarit are, respectively, the largest and second largest avocado-producing states in Mexico. The main harvest of the ‘Hass’ avocado in both states is concentrated during November to December, which saturates the market and reduces the price of fruit and grower income. The goal of this research was to manipulate vegetative and reproductive growth of the ‘Hass’ avocado with properly timed foliar-applied plant bioregulators (PBRs) to shift the date of flowering and harvest to the period before or after the main harvest. Effects of canopy sprays of gibberellic acid (GA3) or prohexadione calcium (a gibberellic acid biosynthesis inhibitor) applied at different stages of tree phenology on inflorescence development, time of anthesis, date of legal maturity for harvest of ‘Hass’ avocado fruit, yield, and fruit size were quantified. No PBR treatment influenced the time of anthesis. A single or double foliar application of GA3 (50 mg·L−1) ≈4 months (July) before the expected date of main harvest (November) resulted in ‘Hass’ avocado fruit reaching legal maturity (mesocarp dry matter 21.5% or greater) 24.8 to 28.2 d earlier than those of untreated control trees with no negative effect on yield or fruit size.