A two-year study was carried out in central Italy (Region of Umbria) to quantify the biomass investment in flowering in relation to the total biomass investment for fruit production.In both years the inflorescences started growing in mid April and showed intense growth in terms of both fresh and dry weight, especially in the last 20 days before the beginning of flowering. The maximum inflorescence fresh and dry weights, recorded just before flowering (at the “white stage” of development), were 320-350 mg and 92-96 mg, respectively. After full bloom, the inflorescence weight decreased remarkably due to flower drop. At the tree level, the fresh (and dry) weight of inflorescences (just before the beginning of flowering)and fruits (at harvest) were, respectively: 3.6-4.2 kg tree-1 (1.0-1.2 kg tree-1) and 15.0-15.5 kg tree-1 (7.7-9.0 kg tree-1).The inflorescence mass was 24-27% of the fruit mass when expressed in fresh weight and 13-14% on a dry weight basis. The daily inflorescence biomass accumulation during the last 20 days before bloom reached 39-47 g tree-1 day-1 and was slightly lower than the average daily biomass accumulation of fruits, which was 47-55 g tree-1 day-1. Given the significant biomass cost of flowering, the consequences and the function of the redundant flowering (i.e. fruit set is very low in olive), is discussed.
The biomass investment in flowering in olive
FAMIANI, Franco;FARINELLI, Daniela;PAOLETTI, ANDREA;BALDICCHI, ALESSANDRO;
2016
Abstract
A two-year study was carried out in central Italy (Region of Umbria) to quantify the biomass investment in flowering in relation to the total biomass investment for fruit production.In both years the inflorescences started growing in mid April and showed intense growth in terms of both fresh and dry weight, especially in the last 20 days before the beginning of flowering. The maximum inflorescence fresh and dry weights, recorded just before flowering (at the “white stage” of development), were 320-350 mg and 92-96 mg, respectively. After full bloom, the inflorescence weight decreased remarkably due to flower drop. At the tree level, the fresh (and dry) weight of inflorescences (just before the beginning of flowering)and fruits (at harvest) were, respectively: 3.6-4.2 kg tree-1 (1.0-1.2 kg tree-1) and 15.0-15.5 kg tree-1 (7.7-9.0 kg tree-1).The inflorescence mass was 24-27% of the fruit mass when expressed in fresh weight and 13-14% on a dry weight basis. The daily inflorescence biomass accumulation during the last 20 days before bloom reached 39-47 g tree-1 day-1 and was slightly lower than the average daily biomass accumulation of fruits, which was 47-55 g tree-1 day-1. Given the significant biomass cost of flowering, the consequences and the function of the redundant flowering (i.e. fruit set is very low in olive), is discussed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
