ISHS Acta Horticulturae 581: IV International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal
ALTERNATIVE BEARING AND SUMMER PRUNING OF CACTUS PEAR |
| Authors: | P. Inglese, G. Gugliuzza, T. La Mantia |
| Keywords: | Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., fertility |
| Abstract:
Summer pruning of newly developing cladodes is commonly applied by cactus pear farmers in order to reduce fruit vs. vegetative growth competition. An analysis of a 4-year vegetative and reproductive behaviour of summer pruned and unpruned trees of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. was performed. Summer pruning resulted in a sharp alternate bearing behaviour. In ‘on’ years, most of the crop (90%) comes from 1-year-old cladodes, whereas in ‘off’ years 40% of the crop comes from 2-years-old cladodes. One-year-old cladodes have a much higher fertility (number of flowers per cladode) than 2-year-old cladodes. | |
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