DOSES AND APPLICATION TIME OF GIBBERELLIC ACID ON FLOWERING AND HARVEST OF MANGO ‘ATAULFO’

Abstract

In Nayarit, México, one of the most important problem in mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the concentration of the harvesting time. An alternative to overcome this problem is to change the flowering time, either by early or delayed flowering. At Nayarit, for cv. ‘Ataulfo’ should be better to delay flowering in order to have mango production when other regions of the country are not producing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of canopy spray of gibberellic acid (GA₃), on flowering, harvesting date and yield of mango ‘Ataulfo’. Twelve years old ‘Ataulfo’ mango trees with similar vigor were sprayed before flowering with single or double GA₃ applications at three different doses (0, 50 y 100 mg L^-1), for two consecutives years. GA3 treated trees had two flowering dates (January to March and April to May) and two harvesting dates (June and July) while control trees only showed one flowering date (January to March) and one harvesting date (June). Mixed panicles (≤ 16 %) were detected in GA₃ treated trees, while the control trees had none. The delay in flowering and harvesting dates was 90 and 42 d respectively. Fruit yield was not affected by GA₃ applications.