DEVELOPMENTAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE VEGETATIVE AXIS OF AVOCADO (Persea Americana L.) AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO SPACING, PRUNING PRACTICES, AND YIELDS OF THE GROVE

Abstract

Although dooryard cultivation of the avocado was practiced in pre-Columbian times in Mexico and Central America, the first systematic commercial plantings date from the beginning of the present century with the establishment of groves in Florida, California, and Cuba. As is usually the case with relatively new crops, there is still a great deal to be learned about the management of the avocado. Certain problems are directly related to growth habit and fruiting behavior, and to fungi which attack the foliage, flowers, and fruits. In the relatively moist climates of Florida and Cuba it has been well established that adequate spray programs during flowering and fruit development are essential to insure sufficient fruit-set and the production of clean commercially-accepted fruits. But adequate spraying is complicated by two characteristics: Many varieties, when planted in grove formation, tend to develop into tall slender trees which quickly grow beyond the practical reach of the spray equipment; and all varieties tend to bear heavily in the upper part of the tree—about two-thirds of the crop is normally produced in the upper third of the crown. Moreover, removing the upper portions of the tree by pruning does not stimulate additional fruit production or branch growth in the remainder. In parts of groves where the upper third of the trees were experimentally pruned prior to flowering, fruit production was reduced by two-thirds as compared to unpruned sections of the grove. Thus the grower confronts conflicting doctrine in the management of avocados: It is desirable to keep the trees rather low and spreading, with rounded crowns, in order to secure adequate spray coverage, without which production is unsatisfactory and harvesting is difficult; yet it is undesirable to control the height of the trees by pruning because of the resulting loss of immediate production. The present study deals with this problem. This paper correlates a basic study of the developmental morphology of the trunk and branches of avocado with growth responses obtained after different types of experimental pruning, and points out relationships between growth habit, pruning procedures, and planting distances. Recommendations are offered concerning these aspects of grove management.

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