Uniconazole at flowering and production of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Palmer.
Silva K. K. A., Ono E. O., Mouco M. A. do C., Nogueira e Silva G. J., Souza Júnior R. M. de, Silva N. C. da, Silva R. de C. B. da
Author Affiliation: Universidade Estadual da Bahia, Av. Edgard Chastinet - São Geraldo, 48905-680, Juazeiro, BA, Brazil.
Magistra 26 : 507-517
Abstract : The use of plant growth regulators has been a widely used practice in semiarid tropical conditions of the country in mango cultivation, to enable the production scheduling, in order to obtain higher profits. This work aimed to study the effect of different concentrations of growth regulator uniconazole (UCZ) applied to soil and leaves to induce flowering in mango cultivar Palmer, under semiarid conditions of Lowermiddle São Francisco region in commercial orchard in the city of Petrolina, PE. The experimental design was randomized blocks with five treatments: T1=absolute control (water), T2=500 mg L-1 of foliar UCZ, T3=1000 mg L-1 of foliar UCZ; T4=1500 mg L-1 of foliar UCZ and T5=6000 mg L-1 of UCZ in the soil with four replications. We evaluated the size of vegetative flow, panicle size, number of fruits, number of panicles, and also the postharvest quality characteristics of fruits such as fruit weight, soluble solids (Brix), titratable acidity, yield per plant (kg plant-1), color of skin and pulp. The results indicated that the treatment with the higher concentration of uniconazole, 6000 mg L-1 in the soil was more effective in inhibiting the growth of branches, anticipating the flowering of plants. Foliar applications of UCZ, in concentrations studied were not effective to control vegetative growth and promote flowering in mango trees cv. Palmer.