TITLE:
Growth Kinetics of Vegetative and Reproductive Organs of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) in Iguala Guerrero, Mexico
AUTHORS:
Agustín Damián Nava, Víctor A. González Hernández, Manuel Nava Jaimes, Elías Hernández Castro, Dolores Vargas Álvarez, Gemima Díaz Villaseñor, Francisco Palemón Alberto, Blas Cruz Lagunas
KEYWORDS:
Psidium guajava, Growth Kinetics, Phenological Events
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.5 No.14,
December
22,
2014
ABSTRACT: In the Mexican tropics the guava trees can grow and produce in any season, so they can be har-vested out of the period of high competition marketing (Summer). Itstudied the growth kinetics of leaves and fruits of guava trees at the dry tropical conditions of the State of Guerrero, in guava trees of four years old and was evaluated a non-destructive method for measuring leaf area from November to May. 100 sheets of 10 randomly selected trees were cut. It was found that leaf length X the width X 0.72581647 (conversion factor) gave an estimated leaf area whichwas significantly correlated with that obtained by the integrator of leaf area. Both in length and width the leaf growth kinetics were sigmoid with three growth stages: In Stage I (15 days) leaves grew 21.2% and 21.5%; in Stage II (26 days) grew 73.6% and 68%; and in Stage III (30 days). They Increased 5.2% and 10.5% in the primary and secondary sprouts. The fruit growth in its equatorial and polar diameters corresponded to a double sigmoid kinetics. In Stage I (61 days) it reached 1.9 and 2.3 cm; in Stage II (62 - 102 days) it reached 3.09 and 3.62 cm; and in Stage III (103 to 126 days) it reached 4.63 and 5.13 cm, as well the physiological maturity of fruit.