Bud Age Affects Sprouting and Flowering in Clementine Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)

To investigate the effects of bud age on sprouting and flowering, bearing Clementine mandarin trees were hand-pruned at monthly intervals from late spring to fall. This pruning resulted in regrowth bearing axillary buds ranging in age from 9 to 5 months. After winter rest and during the return bloom, sprouting and flowering were assessed on axils on terminally positioned stems of these ages. The proportion of axillary buds sprouting and the number of spring shoots produced by each sprouting axillary site decreased with decreasing bud age. The proportion of axils sprouting one or more inflorescences, and the average number of flowers per stem also decreased with decreasing bud age. The number of axillary sites per stem, also significantly affected sprouting and flowering. Our results demonstrate the potential of hand-pruning to manipulate sprouting and return bloom depending on when in the summer or autumn the trees are pruned.