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Hayward’s first priority: Shoot growth
Peter Blattmann, Bill Snelgar and Peter Minchin - HortResearch, Te Puke.
On some Hayward orchards, shoot growth
during summer may be vigorous, so some
orchardists control this by frequent summer
pruning. This results in high pruning costs
and competition from the consequential
regrowths may reduce fruit size and fruit dry
matter content.
As part of a Kiwifruit Royalty Investment
Project we are measuring what factors
control the distribution of growth in Hayward
kiwifruit vines. As an industry, we need to
fi nd ways of manipulating vines so that fruit
growth is maximised, and unwanted
vegetative growth is kept to a minimum.
Some years ago, one grower remarked, “the
Bay of Plenty is ideal for growing kiwifruit
leaves, the fruit come second”.
Figure 1. In some Hayward orchards, vigorous shoot growth during summer makes vine management
expensive - but does it also reduce fruit dry matter content?
Figure 2. On some shoots, regrowth was allowed to develop. We stripped the leaves from the regrowth
every week to ensure that they never developed enough to contribute to fruit growth. Note the girdle at
the base of the shoot, to isolate the experimental shoot from the rest of the plant.