The effects of cultivar and training system on vegetative growth of mango (Mangifera indica) orchards in Far North Queensland

Abstract

Understanding how and why canopy structural growth imposes productivity limitations is critical to managing high yielding, regular bearing mango (Mangifera indica) orchards. This study aimed to see how vegetative and reproductive growth responds to canopy management including bending. To investigate the relationship between shoot architecture, flowering and fruiting we measured structural, functional and temporal patterns of branching and flowering at the tree, scaffold and growth unit levels. Mango architectural analysis found strong varietal effects on vegetative growth, while increasing tree density led to increasing flowering across the orchard area. Single leader medium density trees had a significantly higher mean flower count (m-3 canopy volume tree-1) compared to the conventional training systems, and there was no significant difference between the densities within the conventional system. Limb bending of a parent in the single leader training systems led to an increase in the length of children growth units (bent = 16.07 cm, unbent = 12.05 cm). This paper outlines briefly the techniques used to collect architecture data and summarises the first year of vegetative and reproductive growth in each of the management scenarios.