Inadequate Pollination Is a Key Factor Determining Low Fruit-to-Flower Ratios in Avocado
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Pollen Deposition in a “Hass” Avocado Orchard with a Different Number of Beehives
2.2. Effect of Different Pollen Donors on Pollen Deposition and Paternity on Avocado cv. Hass
2.3. Pollen Limitation in Flowers of cv. Hass in Commercial Avocado Orchards
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Pollen Deposition and Fruit Set with Different Numbers of Honey Bee Hives
3.2. Pollen Deposition in a “Hass” Orchard Planted with Different Varieties of A and B Floral Groups
3.3. Pollen Deposition in Commercial “Hass” Avocado Orchards
4. Discussion
4.1. The Effect of the Number of Honey Bee Hives in Avocado Pollination
4.2. The Effect of Pollinizers on Avocado Pollination
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Orchard | Pollen Donors | Beehives | Yield (Kg/ha) |
---|---|---|---|
Orchard_A | “Fuerte” | Presence | 11.64 |
Orchard_B | “Bacon” and “Fuerte” | Presence | 7.67 |
Orchard_C | “Bacon” | Presence | 14.74 |
Orchard_D | Absence | Absence | 9.90 |
Orchard_E | Absence | Absence | 15.96 |
Treatment | Year | No. Flowers Analyzed | % Flowers with Pollen | Initial Number of Flowers | % Fruits at the End of June |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 Beehives | 2021 | 2279 | 2.85 | 76,024 | 0.13 |
10 Beehives | 2013 | 2979 | 4.77 | 11,642 | 0.09 |
10 Beehives | 2020 | 3188 | 3.92 | 29,404 | 0.12 |
24 Beehives | 2014 | 3115 | 13.68 | 63,336 | 0.32 |
24 Beehives | 2015 | 1368 | 6.65 | 23,506 | 0.14 |
24 Beehives | 2016 | 2066 | 15.83 | 61,337 | 0.11 |
24 Beehives | 2019 | 2293 | 19 | 25,028 | 0.28 |
Orchard | 2nd Week | 3rd Week | 4th Week | Comparison between Dates |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | 4.89 ± 2.29 | 7.91 ± 2.71 | 30.08 ± 4.66 | F2,35 = 17.89, p < 0.001 |
B | 2.11 ± 0.64 | 4.08 ± 0.82 | 13.45 ± 2.38 | F2,223 = 42.29, p < 0.001 |
C | 1.91 ± 0.94 | 3.91 ± 1.57 | 25.06 ± 4.26 | F2,43 = 24.75, p < 0.001 |
D | X | 1.84 ± 1.07 | 13.65 ± 3.35 | T student = −3.355, d.f. = 13.221, p = 0.005 |
E | X | 4.96 ± 1.79 | 6.04 ± 2.22 | T student = −0.379, d.f. = 22, p = 0.709 |
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Alcaraz, M.L.; Hormaza, J.I. Inadequate Pollination Is a Key Factor Determining Low Fruit-to-Flower Ratios in Avocado. Horticulturae 2024, 10, 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020140
Alcaraz ML, Hormaza JI. Inadequate Pollination Is a Key Factor Determining Low Fruit-to-Flower Ratios in Avocado. Horticulturae. 2024; 10(2):140. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020140
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlcaraz, María L., and Jose I. Hormaza. 2024. "Inadequate Pollination Is a Key Factor Determining Low Fruit-to-Flower Ratios in Avocado" Horticulturae 10, no. 2: 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020140
APA StyleAlcaraz, M. L., & Hormaza, J. I. (2024). Inadequate Pollination Is a Key Factor Determining Low Fruit-to-Flower Ratios in Avocado. Horticulturae, 10(2), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020140