Lethal yellowing (LY), a disease caused by a phytoplasma, is the most devastating disease affecting coconut (Cocos nucifera) in Mexico. Thousands of coconut palm trees have died on the Yucatan peninsula while plantations in Central America and on the Pacific coast of Mexico are severely threatened. Polymerase chain reaction assays enable identification of incubating palm trees (stage 0+, phytoplasma detected but palm asymptomatic). With the development of LY, palm trees exhibit various visual symptoms such as premature nut fall (stage 1), inflorescence necrosis (stages 2 to 3), leaf chlorosis and senescence (stages 4 to 6), and finally palm death. However, physiological changes occur in the leaves and roots prior to onset of visual symptoms. Stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, and root respiration decreased in stages 0+ to 6. The number of active photosystem II (PSII) reaction centers decreased during stage 2, but maximum quantum use efficiency of PSII remained similar until stage 3 before declining. Sugar and starch concentrations in intermediate leaves (leaf 14) and upper leaves (leaf 4) increased from stage 0- (healthy) to stages 2 to 4, while root carbohydrate concentrations decreased rapidly from stage 0- to stage 0+ (incubating phytoplasma). Although photosynthetic rates and root carbohydrate concentrations decreased, leaf carbohydrate concentrations increased, suggesting inhibition of sugar transport in the phloem leading to stress in sink tissues and development of visual symptoms of LY.

Floral budbreak and fruit set in many southern highbush blueberry (SHB) cultivars (hybrids of Vaccinium corymbosum L. with other species of Vaccinium) begin prior to vegetative budbreak. Experiments were conducted with two SHB cultivars, `Misty' and `Sharpblue', to test the hypothesis that initial flower bud density (flower buds/m cane length) affects vegetative budbreak and shoot development, which in turn affect fruit development. Flower bud density of field-grown plants was adjusted in two nonconsecutive years by removing none, one-third, or two-thirds of the flower buds during dormancy. Vegetative budbreak, new shoot dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area: fruit ratios decreased with increasing flower bud density in both cultivars. Average fruit fresh weight and fruit soluble solids decreased in both cultivars, and fruit ripening was delayed in `Misty' as leaf area: fruit ratios decreased. This study indicates that because of the inverse relationship between flower bud density and canopy establishment, decreasing the density of flower buds in SHB will increase fruit size and quality and hasten ripening.

Experiments were conducted with `Hamlin' orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] budded on Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) or Carrizo citrange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb. × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.] seedling rootstocks to determine minimum container solution N concentrations required for optimum growth and fertilizer uptake efficiency at various growth stages. Plants were fertigated daily with 1 liter of N solution at either 0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, or 200 mg·liter-1 from NH4NO3 or 0, 3.13, 6.25, 12.5, 25, or 50 mg·liter-1 from NH4NO3 dissolved in a complete nutrient solution, respectively. Percentage of N in the mature plant tissues increased as N concentration in the medium solution increased. Shoot length and leaf area increased as N concentrations increased up to a critical concentration of 15 to 19 mg·liter-1. The critical N concentration for root, shoot, and total plant dry weight was ≈18 mg·liter-1 for `Hamlin'-Cleopatra mandarin nursery plants and 15 mg·liter-1 for `Hamlin'-Carrizo nursery plants. The critical N concentration for relative total plant dry weight accumulation (percentage) for the two experiments was 16.8 mg·liter-1. In a separate experiment, plants were given labeled fertilizer N (FN) (15NH415NO3) at one of five growth stages: A) in the middle of rapid shoot extension of the third flush, B) immediately following the cessation of the third flush shoot extension but during leaf expansion, C) immediately following leaf expansion, D) before the fourth flush, or E) in the middle of rapid shoot extension of the fourth flush. Labeled FN recovery increased during rapid shoot extension of the fourth scion flush compared to the other labeling periods. FN uptake per gram of total plant dry weight was greatest during rapid shoot extension (A and E) and lowest during the intermediate labeling periods (B-D). FN supplied 21% to 22% of the N required for new growth during rapid shoot extension.

Experiments were conducted in north Florida and south Georgia to determine the effects of H2CN2 sprays on vegetative and reproductive growth of blueberry. In Florida, mature, field-grown `Misty' southern highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L. hybrid) blueberry plants were sprayed to drip with 0, 10.2, or 20.4 g·L-1 of H2CN2 [hereafter referred to as 0%, 1.0%, and 2.0% (v/v) H2CN2] on 20 Dec. 1996 and 7 Jan. 1997. During the following winter, mature `Misty' southern highbush and `Climax' rabbiteye (V. ashei Reade) plants were sprayed to drip with 0, 7.6, or 15.3 g·L-1 of H2CN2 [hereafter referred to as 0%, 0.75%, and 1.5% (v/v) H2CN2] on 17 Dec. 1997 and 6 Jan. 1998. For all experiments, plants were dormant and leafless, with slightly swollen flower buds, at the time of spray applications. Generally, H2CN2 sprays increased the extent and earliness of vegetative budbreak and canopy establishment and advanced flowering slightly. The number of vegetative budbreaks usually increased linearly with increasing spray concentrations. In Florida, H2CN2 [0.75% to 1.0% (v/v)] sprays increased mean fruit fresh weight and yield, and shortened the fruit development period (FDP) compared to controls. However, H2CN2 sprays ranging in concentration from 1.5% to 2.0% (v/v) resulted in significant flower bud injury and reduced total fruit yield compared to controls. In south Georgia, 27 of 37 field trials conducted between 1991 and 1998 on several rabbiteye and southern highbush cultivars indicated that leaf development was significantly enhanced by H2CN2. H2CN2 shows potential for increasing early fruit maturity, fruit size, and yield of southern highbush and rabbiteye blueberry cultivars with poor leaf development characteristics in low-chill production regions. Chemical name used: hydrogen cyanamide (H2CN2).

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The effects of hydrogen cyanamide (H2CN2) sprays on vegetative and reproductive bud growth and development were evaluated for `Climax' rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei Reade) and `Misty' southern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L. hybrid). `Climax' plants were sprayed with 0% or 1% H2CN2 (v/v) at each of several time intervals or flower bud growth stages following either 270 or 600 hours of artificial chilling. `Misty' plants were sprayed with 0%, 1%, or 2% H2CN2 (v/v) immediately after exposure to 0, 150, or 300 hours of artificial chilling. H2CN2 application to `Climax' plants at 3 days after forcing (DAF) and at 10% to 30% stage 3 flower bud development dramatically accelerated leafing, and only minimal flower bud damage was observed at these application times. For `Misty', vegetative budbreak was increased and advanced by both H2CN2 spray concentrations, regardless of pretreatment chilling levels; the number of vegetative budbreaks per plant increased with increased concentration. Timing of anthesis did not appear to be affected by H2CN2, but fruit maturity was hastened. Increased pretreatment chilling also hastened fruit development. This effect on maturity appears to be due primarily to increased and accelerated vegetative budbreak, which probably increased leaf: fruit ratios. Greater flower bud mortality from H2CN2 occurred in nonchilled plants than in those chilled for 150 or 300 hours, especially at 2% H2CN2. These results indicate that H2CN2 has potential value in stimulating vegetative bud development, which potentially hastens maturity in blueberries grown under the mild winter conditions of the Southeast. However, spray concentration and timing of application will be critical to successful use of this compound.

Vegetative budbreak and subsequent canopy development in some southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. interspecific hybrid) cultivars are delayed and/or reduced as flower bud density increases. This delay/reduction in vegetative growth has been correlated with decreased weight and soluble solids of individual fruit. In the present study, the effects of flower bud density (FBD) on vegetative budbreak and canopy development, starch reserves, and whole-canopy net CO2 exchange rate (NCER) were assessed to determine how FBD affected the source supply for fruit development. A range of flower bud densities was established in two cultivars of containerized southern highbush blueberry during dormancy. Vegetative budbreak was delayed and vegetative budbreak, leaf area, and leaf area to fruit ratios decreased as FBD increased. In general, increasing FBD increased the rate of root and cane starch depletion during the first four weeks after bloom. Whole-canopy NCER was similar across the range of FBD during early fruit development, but between four weeks after bloom and fruit ripening, NCER decreased as FBD increased. Although FBD explained only a small proportion of the variability observed in carbohydrate concentration and NCER, the data suggest that both the rapid depletion of starch reserves early in fruit development and the decrease in whole canopy NCER later in fruit development contribute to the detrimental effects of increased FBD on fruit development.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of rootstock and bud-forcing treatment on scion budbreak and nursery tree growth of `Hamlin' orange. In Expt. 1, `Carrizo' citrange, `Swingle' citrumelo, and `Cleopatra' mandarin were budded with `Hamlin' orange and forced by one of the following methods: cutting off (purning away the rootstock top about 2 cm above the inserted scion bud); lopping (cutting half to two-thirds of the way through the rootstock stem 2 cm above the bud union, and breaking over the stem but leaving it attached); or bending (bending the rootstock shoot above the inserted scion bud and tying it to the base of the plant). For `Swingle' only, percent budbreak was less for bending or lopping compared to cutting off. For `Carrizo' and `Swingle', scion dry weights were less when plants were forced by cutting off compared to bending or lopping. For all rootstocks, whole-plant dry weights were greater for plants forced by bending and lopping than for plants forced by cutting off. In Expt. 2, scion buds on `Swingle' and `Cleopatra' plants were forced by the three methods in Expt. 1 plus combinations of bending with notching (making an inverted V incision through the bark and into the wood on the rootstock stem directly above the scion bud) and/or topping (removing the teminal 2 cm of rootstock shoot tips of plants forced by bending). Percent scion budbreak was high for `Cleopatra' plants regardless of forcing treatment. For `Swingle', scion budbreak was greater when bending was combined with notching than for bending alone. For `Cleopatra', plant dry weight was greatest for plants forced by lopping. When bending was combined with notching, or notching with topping, `Swingle' scion budbreak was comparable to cutting off, but plant dry weights were greater with these combination treatments than when cutting off was used.