Effect of time of shoot bending on flowering, fruiting and yield attributes in guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Sardar

Abstract

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an important tropical fruit crop known for its nutritional value and adaptability. However, irregular flowering and limited fruit set in upright-growing shoots often reduce its productivity. The present investigation was carried out to study how the timing of shoot bending influences the growth and flowering behavior of guava cv. Lucknow-49. Parameters such as shoot length, number of vegetative buds, days to flowering, and number of flower buds were recorded. Bent shoots produced more new shoots and flower buds compared to unbent controls. The practice of shoot bending altered the plant’s hormonal balance and encouraged the development of dormant buds. These findings suggest that proper timing of shoot bending can be a useful technique to improve growth and flowering in guava, leading to better crop performance and yield. The results obtained about the Flowering and fruiting attributes were significantly influenced by bending treatment at different time interval. The minimum days required to initiation of flowers (37.66 days), minimum days required for fruit set (45 days), maximum number of flowering shootlet per branch (13.01), fruit set percent (48.33%) and fruit retention percent (39.66%) were recorded in T1 treatment (30th May bending) at the time of final observation during February. The bending treatments had significant effect on yield attributes. The maximum number of fruits per bent shoot (28.66 fruits) and estimated yield (4.96 kg/ bent shoot) were recorded in T1 treatment (30th May bending).