INCREASING SCAFFOLD BRANCH ANGLE OF ATEMOYA BY MANIPULATION OF THE PRIMARY BUD COMPLEX

Lateral branches arising from the primary bud complex on limbs of cont ainerized 'Gefner' atemoya (Annona squamosa L. x A. cherimola Mill.) p lants were removed to determine the influence of branch regrowth on th e crotch angle. Pruning the lateral branches to a stub (<1 cm) was mor e effective in inducing regrowth and increasing branch angle of the re growth than stripping lateral branches by hand. Following lateral bran ch removal, regrowth did not develop from every node along a stem axis . In a second study, the angle of branch regrowth from tagged nodes fo llowing pruning of lateral branches was determined. The mean crotch an gle of the primary lateral branches was 58 degrees. Regrowth from the second and third supernumerary buds within each node produced branches with an average crotch angle of 72 degrees and 88 degrees, respective ly, The largest increase in attachment angle following pruning was obt ained at nodes with narrow primary lateral branches and at nodes locat ed closest to the base of a major axis. The increase in branch crotch angle was not correlated with the size of the preceding lateral branch at a node. These results indicate that pruning off lateral branches w ith narrow crotch angles may be performed during training atemoya plan ts to produce scaffold limbs from supernumerary buds within the same n odes with desirably wide crotch angles.