Excised canes are a suitable test system for the study of budbreak and flowering of kiwifruit canes

Abstract

Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson) canes were excised from vines during winter and suspended from the vine canopy in the field until late spring. The effects of excision, subsequent orientation of the cane, and length of the cane (whole cane or cuttings) on spring budbreak, shoot growth, and flowering were compared with equivalent intact canes left on the vine. Excision and orientation of whole canes had no effect on budbreak. Budbreak on small cuttings (80%) was greater than on whole canes (40%) or intact canes (45%). The sequence of budbreak was also different in small cuttings. Shoot development on excised canes and cuttings was limited; shoots were shorter, node number generally less, and flower bud size smaller. Numbers of flowers on shoots were the same on excised canes, cuttings, and intact canes. Small cuttings are only useful to predict the flower number potential of particular shoot buds. Excised canes form a suitable system for the study of interactions between buds on a cane involving measurements of budbreak, timing, and patterns of budbreak and/or numbers of flowers per shoot.

Key words:

• Actinidia deliciosa
• excised canes
• flowering
• budbreak
• cuttings