Abstract

All buds on 50% of the nodes on fruiting canes of the cv. Meeker were removed at the beginning of the growing season, and the subsequent productivity of the remaining nodes was compared with that of controls in which no buds were excised. Numbers of fruits borne by the treated canes were reduced by about 30% instead of the 50% that would have been expected had there been no compensatory development. This compensation arose mainly from an increase in the number of fruits per productive node, rather than from an increase in the percentage of potentially productive nodes which did eventually produce fruiting laterals. It is suggested that the extra fruits developed as a result of redistribution of stem reserves. Nearly one-third of the nodes in the controls failed to produce laterals. These unproductive nodes were most frequent in the region of the cane adjacent to the support wire, suggesting that physical injury may have been a major cause of bud failure.