SEASONAL CYCLE OF SHOOT DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED ACTINIDIA SPECIES

Seasonal cycles of shoot development for 10 Actinidia species are desc ribed. A female and a male vine were studied for six species. Shoots w ere sampled at monthly intervals during the growing season and timing of budbreak, shoot lengths, numbers of nodes, areas of leaves, numbers and node positions of flowers or fruit, and fruit size were measured. Budbreak, shoot growth, and leaf growth patterns were not clearly rel ated to taxonomic affinities although vines of A. deliciosa behaved ve ry similarly to vines of the closely related species, A. chinensis and A. eriantha. Male and female vines differed in flowering behaviour wi th male vines having higher percentages of flowering shoots, more flow ering nodes on a shoot, and often, more flowers in an inflorescence. T he growth habits of the A. chinensis and A. eriantha vines appear to b e suited to pruning and training in the same manner as A. deliciosa 'H ayward'. The selected A. arguta vines have very unfavourable growth ch aracteristics for commercial production, including the long vigorous s hoots and sparse flowering habit.