Increasing Scaffold Branch Angle of Atemoya by Manipulation of the Primary Bud Complex

Abstract

Lateral branches arising from the primary bud complex on limbs of containerized `Gefner' atemoya (Annona squamosa L. × A. cherimola Mill.) plants were removed to determine the influence of branch regrowth on the crotch angle. Pruning the lateral branches to a stub (cl cm) was more effective in inducing regrowth and increasing branch angle of the regrowth than stripping lateral branches by hand. Following lateral branch removal, regrowth did not develop from every node along a stem axis. In a second study, the angle of branch regrowth from tagged nodes following pruning of lateral branches was determined. The mean crotch angle of the primary lateral branches was 58°. Regrowth from the second and third supernumerary buds within each node produced branches with an average crotch angle of 72° and 88°, respectively. The largest increase in attachment angle following pruning was obtained at nodes with narrow primary lateral branches and at nodes located closest to the base of a major axis. The increase in branch crotch angle was not correlated with the size of the preceding lateral branch at a node. These results indicate that pruning off lateral branches with narrow crotch angles may be performed during training atemoya plants to produce scaffold limbs from supernumerary buds within the same nodes with desirably wide crotch angles.