Desponte de cladódios de pitaia vermelha de polpa branca

Abstract

Currently the diversification of fruit is a strong tendency to increase opportunities for the fruit grower. Pitaya cultivation has become important for both economy and health, due to the exotic nature of its appearance, its organoleptic characteristics and its nutraceutical properties. However, information on the cultivation of this fruit is scarce, requiring research to facilitate its management. Therefore, the present work had as objective to evaluate the influence of the topping management in the vegetative and reproductive characteristics in different sizes of cladodes of white fleshed red pitaya. In order to carry out the experiment, the completely randomized experimental design in factorial scheme 5 x 3 was utilized, corresponding to five cladode lengths (shorter than 20 cm, between 20-40 cm, 41-60 cm, 61-80 cm and longer than 80 cm) and the second is regarding the three kinds of topping (no topping of the cladode, with topping in September and topping in October). Six replications and one cladode per plot were used . The following characteristics were investigated: length of the shoots, number of shoots, total number of flowers, amount of aborted flowers and fruits, percentage of flower set and fresh mass of fruits. The topping of cladodes did not influence the evaluated characteristics. For the best flowering and fruit production, it is advisable to prioritize the cladodes over 60 cm long.