FLORAL BIOLOGY AND

FRUIT SET
OF
MANGO,CITRUS AND
GRAPE

M.Vijayalaxmi
RHM/08-23
M.Sc(Hort)1st
yr
 BLOSSOM BIOLOGY
In many fruit crops the time of flower opening depends on
the many factors

Blossom biology constitutes

• Blooming period
• Flower bud differentiation
• Flower bud development
• Inflorescence
• Sex ratio
• Anthesis
• Dehiscence
• Pollen fertility
• Stigma receptivity
 Mango
• SN : Mangifera indica

• Family : Anacardiaceae

• Inflorescence : Panicle

• Fruit : Drupe
Blooming period
Factors

• Physiological – CHO and N reserves play a main role in fruit bud

differentiation.
• Environmental - optimum 20-25oC. vegetative shoots produced
in spring –get sufficient time to grow and accumulate metabolites
necessary for fruit bud differentiation.

S I : January - February
N I : February – March
2-3 weeks

Flower bud differentiation

October – December
• Inflorescence:

• the panicle consists of pefect

hermophrodite and male flowers.

• the percentage of perfect flowers

ranges from 1.25- 81.0% with a
strong varietal difference.

• 800 – 9000 flowers / panicle

• Male and Perfect flowers present

towards apex
 Flower
•6 – 8 mm in diameter

• Calyx : 5 partite

• Corolla : 5 (greenish yellow and

cream colour)

• Androecium : 5 lobed disc

(stamens and staminoids)

• Stamens and pistils may be either parallel or

oblique to each other

• Ovary is sessile,one celled,oblique and slightly

compressed in its lateral aspects
 Sex ratio
• Perfect to staminate

• Less flowers in distal half

• More perfect flowers in the distal half

Variety Percentage of perfect

flowers
Dashehari 80%

Neelum 16%

Alphonso 6-11%

Baneshan 3%
Jahangir 1.25%
Factors affecting for more perfect flowers

• Inflorescence emerging during middle and end of

flowering season (2-7 times)
• Lateral inflorescence
• Older trees
• Grafted trees
• On year crop
• Ambient temperature
• Mineral nutrition

Anthesis
• 9.00AM - 10.00AM
• polyembryonic sps – night

Dehiscence
•Occurs within 1 hr after anthesis after dehiscence anthers
become bluish due to pollen
• High RH delays dehiscence
Pollination

• Highly cross pollinated, perfect flowers are protogynous and

entemophilous

• Pollen grains in mango changes shapes in different media

• Possess oblong, oval and slightly broader in some varieties

3 types of pollinating agents

• Melipona spp
• Syrphidae spp
• Musca domestica
Pollen fertility
• Growth and maturity reduced by cool
temperatures
• Completely inhibits at below 15oc
Stigma receptivity
• Up to 72 hours after opening of flower
 FRUIT SET

“Development of ovary and the

adjacent tissue following
blossom period”

•8-13% flowers setting

• Mango cv are usally self fruit ful

• Ratio of fruit to flower is 1 :5000

• fruits less than 1% reach maturity

Factors responsible for fruit set
• Changes in temperature

• Light intensity

• Day length

• Presence of functional leaves

• Supply of nutrients and water

Factors for low fruit set

• More male flowers

• Un pollinated perfect flowers

• Failure of pollen germination

 Parthenocarpy
• Not common but seen in Dashehari (5.44%)
due to low temperature during flowering and
reduce the activity of pollinators

Fruit drop
• Climatic conditions

• Defective flowers

• Self in compatibility

• Lack of pollination

•Zygote abortion

• Pests and diseases

 Alternate bearing
“Alternate bearing refers to heavy fruiting In one year”

Factors

5. Physiological
6. Genetical
7. Environmental
8. Nutritional

Measures

• Maintenance of orchard
• Deblossoming
• Ringing and girdling
• Smudging and chemical treatments
 CITRUS
Sn : Citrus spp.

Family : Rutaceae

Inflorescence : Terminal cyme

Fruit : Hesperidium
 Blooming period

March-april (early spring)

Sweet orange and mandrins - once in a year
(March) - NI
• Sweet orange - First (Feb-Mar)
Second ( June-July ) - Bihar

• Sathgudi - First (Dec-April) - SI

Second ( Sep-Dec)

• Coorg mandrin - First (Mar-April)

Second ( Sep-Oct)
• Thrice in central and western India – June,Oct and Feb

• Continuous bloom in Lemons, Lime and Citron

 Flowering in tropical regions

• With no cool periods and enough soil moistures through out

the year, most of the citrus species produce some bloom on a
recurrent basis
• Hence low temperature alone is not induced flowering but
dormancy induced by low moisture supply has been found
equally effective.
• The flowering in citrus under Indian conditions is induced
through either low temperature stress or soil water deficit.
• In North-west India and North-East India low temperature is
observed for 10-15 days, which is sufficient to induce
dormancy.

• In central and South India in the absence of low temperature,

soil water deficit stress is adopted to induce flowering.

• There are very few commercial citrus growing belts of global

level where soil water deficit is widely practiced to induce
flowering
 Flowering in tropical regions

• Cessation of root growth, as well as low temperature,

water stress, weak root stocks and confined roots

were necessary for floral induction.

Flower bud differentiation

 Every vegetative bud in citrus is a potential flower

bud. Induction and differentiation are not seen outside

 The vegetative bud in citrus is conical one with

pointed apex

 Cessation of vegetative growth is a pre-requisite for

induction
• It is generally observed that new flush precedes the
flower bud differentiation, ordinarily in early spring

• Temperature required is 16 -20oc (Krajewski et

al.,1995)
• flower bud development – Complete development of
bud lasts from less than 18 – 47 days (Inova,1990)
• Inflorescence –
Inflorescence in citrus species is of cymose type.

Flowers in citrus are borne on two types of shoots

1. With leaves : new wood

2. With out leaves : old wood

 Flower

• Calyx : 5 sepals, gamosepalous, inferior, quincunicial

aestivation

• Corolla : 5 (white/purplish colour), polypetalous scented,

inferior, imbricate aestivation

• Androecium : Indefinate, 20 - 40stamens, polydelphous,

compressed at base. Anthers oblong basifixes, introse, dithecous
• Gynoecium : Polycarpellary, syncarpous, superior
ovary, multi locular, nectar secreting, disc present
below ovary, axile placentation, style short, stigma
capitative7-15 celled pistils
 Flowering in Citrus:

• In Israel, Eureka lemons sprayed five times with CCC at a

concentration of 1000 ppm, SADH at a concentration of 2500

ppm or BOA at a concentration of 25 ppm considerably

increased flowering and production of lemons (Monselise et al.,

1966).

· Paclobutrazal (cultar) at the rate of 18 g tree-1, when applied at

the time of imposition of stress (Research Highlights of NRCC,

2005).
SWEETORANGE

• Rao(1961) observed that in Sathgudi Orange, IAA (15 ppm), 2, 4-D (10
ppm), NAA (5 and 15 ppm) and beta-naphthoxyacetic acid (10 and 15 ppm)
sprayed at bud stage significantly increased fruit set.

Sweet orange (Cv. Washington Navel) plants were subjected to low

preflowering temperature (day/night, 15/10oC), which had resulted in delayed full
bloom by (28 days) and poor fruit set. A small increase in root temperature during
flower development to 16°C (at 15/10oC) mitigated the adverse effect of low
day/night temperature on subsequent fruit set (Moss, 1974).

MANDARIN: GA 40 ppm and NAA 40 ppm have also been reported to

increase fruit set in Ladui mandarin (pastel and Soni, 1972).
• For inducting of Hasta Bahar in acid lime in the
month of October- November, two sprays of
chloromequat chloride (CCC, Cycocel) at 15 days
interval or stem girdling at 0.3 cm width was
effective in giving good crop of acid lime in peak
summer months

(Research Highlights of NRCC, 2005).

Anthesis

9.00AM - 12.00PM
Terminal bud, leaf less flowers opens early
Flower exposed to sun opens early

Dehiscence

• Dehiscence of anthers in citrus takes place at different times

• Low humidity and high temperature are found to influence

dehiscence of anthers

• High temperature accelerates the dehiscence of anthers

• Stigma receptivity

• In general stigma receptivity in various citrus

varieties starts 2- 3 days earlier to anthesis with
maximum receptivity on the day of anthesis

• Oozing of gummy substance on the stigmatic surface

is the indication of stigma receptivity in citrus

• Duration of stigma receptivity is influenced by

prevailing weather conditions also in dry spring it is
shorter than the moist spring
 Pollination

 Thecitrus flowers are

hermaphrodite and homogamous.

 A number of citrus cultivars are

self incompatable and some are
cross incompatable. Under such
conditions for regular and consist ant
production of an adequate source of
pollen in addition to the pollinating
agents are very essential ( Syam
singh et al.,2001)
 FRUIT SET
• 1,00,000 – 2,00,000 flowers on mature
tree

• Only 1-2% of these flowers will produce

fruits

• Time of anthesis is also linked to

percentage initial fruit set. Flowers open
early in the bloom period have much
lower fruit set than those open latter.

• Citrus fruits develop very slowly it takes

6 – 13 months
• Size and number of leaves related to size of fruit

• Petal fall off, drying stigma and green ovary indicate

the success of fruit set

• Washington navel - sterile pollen

• Lemons - more imperfect flowers

• Pumellos - self incompatability

Factors responsible for poor fruit set are pollen sterility, seedlessness,
embryosac sterility and self incompatability
 GRAPE

SN : Vitis vinefera

Family : Vitaceae

Inflorescence : Panicle

Fruit : Berry
 Flowering period

• SI : 1. Apr - May
2. Oct - Nov
• NI : Mar –Apr

Flowering on current season growth during warm

season in NI were as the cold season in SI
Flowering habit

Fruit buds in grape

vine are lateral,
unfolding to
produce leafy shoots
that terminate in
flower clusters
 Inflorescence

 Much branched
cluster,each branch
ending in a terminal
flower.
 The inflorescence is
borne on opposite to the
leaf and emerge with the
leaves when the shoots
start growing.
 Flower

Calyx : 5 sepals, green,soon after

bunches appear the sepals stop
growth and dries up.

Corolla : called as calyptra 5

(greenish petals which are united
at tip therefore flower opens from
base, gets detached and drops off as
a small cap at the time of
blooming)
Androecium : 5 stamens with introse anther. At the base and between filaments
there are pad like nectaries. which produce sweet and odorous nectar. Stamens are
pollen bearing organ of flowers, stamens are opposite the petals in the arrangement
of the floral parts, small filament is present to the stamen,at the tip anther present

Gynoecium : stigma is coated with a sweet and sticky solution secreted from it to
hold the pollen grains falling on it. Ovary is bilocular with 2 ovules in each locules

Perfect Pistillate Staminate

Anthesis
The time between leafing out and bloom is usually after 8weeks

• 8.00AM - 9.00AM (SI)

• 7.00AM - 8.00AM (NI)

Anthesis decreases during

high temperatures
Time taken for completion of anthesis varied
from half a minute to one day depending upon
the variety
 Dehiscence
• 5 minutes more or less same as anthesis
• The walls of each lateral pair of loculi break away by their
inner and thin walled margins throwing pollen grains of the
both together toward the stigma

Stigma receptivity

• This is a varietal character in grape

• Stigma receptive one day before and after anthesis and

disappears on the third day
 FRUIT SET
• Grape cultivar varies markedly in the extent to the fruit setting

• The ratio of set berries to the number of flowers in a flower

cluster is the real measure of fruit set

• Fruit set is directly proportional to the no.of mature leaves and is

reduced by the presence of immature leaves and shoot tip mainly
because the developing leaves and shoot tips are much stronger
sink for the movement of photosynthates during flower
development

•The stage at which the unfertilized ovaries (small berries)

abscise is called the “shatter stage”
 Parthenocarpy

 Stimulative parthenocarpy : Black corinth

There is no ovule development beyond the time of bloom, due to
nutritional stimulous parthenocarpy may occurs.

 Stenospermocarpy : Sultania
Munakka
Thompson seedless
Fertilization occurs but the embryo subsequently aborts

 Empty seededness : Chaouch

Endosperm shrrivelled and degenarated and leaving seeds more or
less shallow
 Stages of development

Bud swelling, doeskin stage with First leaf unfolded and spread
brownish wool clearly visible away from shoot

Five to six leaves

unfolded,
inflorescence
clearly visible 3
Inflorescence fully Early flowering: 25% of caps
developed fallen

Late flowering: 80% of

caps fallen
Fruit set: young fruits begin to swell Beginning of berry touch
Noticeable loss of green colour also
Berries ripe for harvest
called "Veraison"