Flowering in Mango Induced with Potassium Nitrate1

Abstract

‘Carabao’ mango (Mangifera indica L.) shoots about 8.5 months old required only 7 days from spraying 10 to 160 g/liter KNO3 to attain 100% flowering. ‘Pahutan’ shoots 4.8 months-old exhibited 60 to 80% flowering in 7 days and 100% in 14 days with 10 to 80 g/liter. Eleven out of 12 ‘Pico’ trees flowered 8 days after spraying 10g/liter KNO3 on dark green shoots of undetermined age. Flower induction was uniform in practically all trees. All control shoots and unsprayed portions of the canopy remained vegetative long after termination of the experiments.

The relationship between vegetative and reproductive development in the mango in northern Australia

“…This information is important for the timing of cultural practices which may increase yield. Flowering can be promoted by pruning (Rao and Khader 1979) and by application of potassium nitrate (Bondad and Lingsangan 1979). The latter treatment is used commercially to induce out-ofseason cropping in the mango cultivar Carabao in the Philippines, although it has not been so effective in inducing flowering in other cultivars in other regions.…”

“…Vegetative growth cycles of mango trees have been described by a number of workers (Singh and Khan 1939;Singh 1959;Rao and Khader 1979), but flushing patterns often vary with location and season. Information on the relationship and timing of floral initiation and development in relation to the vegetative growth cycles is important for crop management (Sen 1944;Bondad and Lingsangan 1979). Reports on floral initiation and development from various mango growing areas indicate that floral initiation occurs only a few weeks before anthesis with no dormancy period (Sen and Mallik 1941;Mustard and Lynch 1946;Ravishankar et al 1979;Lin and Chen 1981).…”

Mangoes

“…Potassium nitrate can modify the flowering behaviour of mango, making it possible to produce fruit every year. In addition, the use of KNO 3 can advance the flowering and fruiting periods of mango by several months, and can induce flowering of trees which remain vegetative, but are beyond normal bearing age (Bondad and Linsangan, 1979). The same authors report that spraying with concentrations of KNO 3 at rates as low as 10g/litre, induced 100 percent flowering in several Phillipine cultivars, within 7 to 14 days after spraying.…”

Florescimento e frutificação em laranjeiras pera (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) com clorose variegada dos citros (CVC)

“…Durante a fase reprodutiva, baixos conteúdos de potássio podem causar redução do tamanho do fruto em laranjeiras (Wakhloo, 1975, Bondad & Linsangan, 1979Sing, et al, 1997).…”