Avocado Trees Paclobutrazol

Avocado Trees Paclobutrazol were sprayed with Paclobutrazol, a commercial formulation containing 25% paclobutrazol. Hand spraying of individual trees before or at the flowering stage resulted in an increase in the number of harvested fruits per tree, reaching 97 and 174% above the controls in two groves. The phenological state of the bloom affected the results. The best additional yields, of 379 and 546% in two different groves, were obtained from sprays at the stages of elongating inflorescences and incipient anthesis.
No residual or cumulative effect of Paclobutrazol could be detected in two consecutive years of treatment with regard to tree vigour, general appearance, yield, or other factors.
Application by a commercial sprayer with a blower, using 3% Paclobutrazol resulted in a 90% increase in yield.
The Paclobutrazol sprays did not alter considerably the trends or the numbers of vegetative flushes during the season, but they did affect shoot elongation and 2% Paclobutrazol caused a reduction of a 30% in shoot length.
The time lapse between fruit set and the start of vegetative growth was 4a 5 days longer in the treated inflorescences. Paclobutrazol may overcome the problem of low yields in trees which are considered to be of a clonal low- Production type.
The Paclobutrazol sprays seem to increase yield in the a offa year in trees which bore a heavy yield in the previous a ona year.