The timing of flush development affects the flowering of avocado (Persea americana) and macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia × tetraphylla)
Trevor OlesenNSW Department of Primary Industries, PO Box 72, Alstonville, NSW 2477, Australia. Email: trevor.olesen@agric.nsw.gov.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56(7) 723-729 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04287
Submitted: 19 November 2004 Accepted: 26 April 2005 Published: 22 July 2005
Abstract
Orchard trees of A4 macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia × tetraphylla) and Hass avocado (Persea americana) were thinned and tip-pruned at different times to generate a range of trees with different stages of leafy flush development. The stagger in the start of the first flush following pruning was repeated in the start of subsequent flushes, so pruning was an effective means of changing the phase of the cycle of flush development.
The difference in phase affected flowering. In macadamia, over 80% of the variance in flowering was explained by regression against pruning time. Flowering ranged from 0 to 43% of tip-pruned branches, with the most profuse flowering on flushes appearing in July. In avocado, over 45% of the variance in flowering of the first flush following pruning, and over 35% of the second flush, was explained by regression against pruning time, with more flowering on those flushes starting nearer to the winter solstice.
The control trees flowered better than the pruned trees but there was too little information to explain the difference. The macadamia control trees had less synchronised flushing than the pruned trees, and were not subject to internal thinning. The avocado control trees appeared to have a phase of flush development different from the pruned trees, with a summer flush commencing before the first pruning date and maturing before the maturation of the first post-pruning flushes.
More research is needed for related canopy management guidelines.
Additional keywords: canopy management, pruning, evergreen subtropical trees.
Acknowledgments
I thank Graham Anderson for donating the avocado plants to the CTH, and David Huett and Lisa McFadyen for reading drafts of the manuscript. The research was partly funded by the Australian Macademia Society and Horticulture Australia Limited.
Ball MC,
Egerton JJG,
Leuning R,
Cunningham RB, Dunne P
(1997) Microclimate above grass adversely affects spring growth of seedling snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora). Plant, Cell and Environment 20, 155–166.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Batten DJ, McConchie CA
(1995) Floral induction in growing buds of lychee (Litchi chinensis) and mango (Mangifera indica). Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 22, 783–791.
Bernier G,
Havelange A,
Houssa C,
Petitjean A, Lejeune P
(1993) Physiological signals that induce flowering. The Plant Cell 5, 1147–1155.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Chaikiattiyos S,
Menzel CM, Rasmussen TS
(1994) Floral induction in tropical fruit trees: effects of temperature and water supply. Journal of Horticultural Science 69, 397–415.
Davenport TL
(1986) Avocado flowering. Horticultural Reviews 8, 257–289.
Davenport TL, Stern RA
(2005) Flowering. ‘Litchi and longan: botany, cultivation and uses’. Vol.
,
edn(Eds CM Menzel, GK Waite)
pp. 87–113. (CABI: Wallingford, UK)
Henriod RE,
Jameson PE, Clemens J
(2003) Effect of irradiance during floral induction on floral initiation and subsequent development in buds of different size in Metrosideros excelsa (Myrtaceae). The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology 78, 204–212.
Hieke S
(2000) Physiology of leaf and fruit growth in lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). Dissertation, Humboldt University, Germany
Lang ARG
(1991) Application of some of Cauchy’s theorems to estimation of surface areas of leaves, needles and branches of plants, and light transmittance. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 55, 191–212.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leonardi J
(2001) Progress in canopy management of avocados. ‘Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Avocado Growers’ Conference Vision 2020’. (Australian Avocado Growers' Conference CD, Session 7/18.: Brisbane, Qld)
Leonardi J
(2004) Avocado canopy and orchard floor management. Project AV00007, Horticulture Australia Limited, Sydney, NSW.
Menzel CM, Olesen T, McConchie C, Wiltshire N, Diczbalis Y, Wicks C
(2000) Lychee, longan and rambutan. Optimising canopy management.29, Canberra, ACT.
Moncur MW,
Stephenson RA, Trochoulias T
(1985) Floral development of Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche under Australian conditions. Scientia Horticulturae 27, 87–96.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nakata S
(1976) Progress report on flowering, nut setting and harvesting, with special reference to the effects of night temperature and growth regulators. Proceedings of the Hawaii Macadamia Production Association 16, 31–36.
Olesen T, McPhan A
(2003) Thoughts on the flowering of macadamia. Australian Macadamia Society News Bulletin 30, 38–40.
Olesen T,
Menzel CM,
Wiltshire N, McConchie CA
(2002) Flowering and shoot elongation of lychee in eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 53, 977–983.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stephenson RA,
Cull BW, Mayer DG
(1986) Effects of site, climate, cultivar, flushing, and soil and leaf nutrient status on yields of macadamia in south-east Queensland. Scientia Horticulturae 30, 227–235.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stephenson RA, Gallagher EC
(1986) Effects of night temperature on floral initiation and raceme development in macadamia. Scientia Horticulturae 30, 213–218.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stephenson RA, Trochoulias T
(1994) Macadamia. ‘Handbook of environmental physiology of fruit crops. Sub-tropical and tropical crops’. Vol. 2,
edn(Eds B Schaffer, PC Anderson)
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL)
Trochoulias T, Lahav E
(1983) The effect of temperature on growth and dry-matter production of macadamia. Scientia Horticulturae 19, 167–176.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
