Abstract
The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers. However, it produces a variable percentage of undersized fruit that cannot be exported. Mulching was investigated as a possible method of increasing fruit size through improved root activity and reduced tree stress. In a field trial at Everdon Estate, Howick, feeder root growth was greatly increased throughout two seasons by the application of coarse composted pine bark mulch beneath the tree canopy. Over two seasons, the mulch treatment resulted in a significant 11,8% increase in mean fruit mass, in spite of 16,7 % more fruits per tree. The combined effect was a 30,4 % greater yield, in spite of a high level of management and a relatively mesic environment. The probable explanation for this increase is that mulching ameliorates overall plant stress. Mulching reduced the incidence of premature seed coat abortion and pedicel ring-neck, both of which are associated with plant water stress. Furthermore, mulching reduced foliage temperatures during stress periods, indicating a reduction in plant water stress during these critical periods.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching greatly increased feeder root growth of avocado over two seasons in a field trial.
- Taxon
- avocado
Persea americanae0 - Organ / stage
- feeder roote1
- Treatment
- coarse composted pine bark mulch beneath the tree canopye1
- Outcome
- feeder root growthe1
- Direction
- greatly increasede1
- Setting
- Everdon Estate, Howicke1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e1“In a field trial at Everdon Estate, Howick, feeder root growth was greatly increased throughout two seasons by the application of coarse composted pine bark mulch beneath the tree canopy”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching significantly increased mean fruit mass of avocado by 11.8%.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Treatment
- mulch treatmente2
- Outcome
- mean fruit masse2
- Direction
- increasee2
- Value
- 11,8%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e2“Over two seasons, the mulch treatment resulted in a significant 11,8% increase in mean fruit mass, in spite of 16,7 % more fruits per tree”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching increased the number of fruits per avocado tree by 16.7%.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Treatment
- mulch treatmente2
- Outcome
- fruits per treee2
- Direction
- moree2
- Value
- 16,7 %e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e2“Over two seasons, the mulch treatment resulted in a significant 11,8% increase in mean fruit mass, in spite of 16,7 % more fruits per tree”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching increased avocado yield by 30.4%.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Treatment
- mulch treatmente2
- Outcome
- yielde3
- Direction
- greatere3
- Value
- 30,4 %e3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e2“Over two seasons, the mulch treatment resulted in a significant 11,8% increase in mean fruit mass, in spite of 16,7 % more fruits per tree”
e3“The combined effect was a 30,4 % greater yield, in spite of a high level of management and a relatively mesic environment”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching reduced the incidence of premature seed coat abortion and pedicel ring-neck in avocado, both associated with plant water stress.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Treatment
- Mulchinge4
- Outcome
- incidence of premature seed coat abortion and pedicel ring-necke4
- Direction
- reducede4
- Qualifier
- associated with plant water stresse4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e4“Mulching reduced the incidence of premature seed coat abortion and pedicel ring-neck, both of which are associated with plant water stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching reduced foliage temperatures of avocado during stress periods.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Organ / stage
- foliagee5
- Treatment
- Mulchinge5
- Outcome
- foliage temperaturese5
- Direction
- reducede5
- Qualifier
- during stress periodse5
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e5“Furthermore, mulching reduced foliage temperatures during stress periods, indicating a reduction in plant water stress during these critical periods”
Claim · model-written summary
The probable explanation for the avocado yield increase under mulching is that mulching ameliorates overall plant stress.
- Taxon
- avocadoPersea americanae0
- Treatment
- mulchinge6
- Outcome
- increasee6
- Qualifier
- ameliorates overall plant stresse6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The Hass cultivar is important to the South African avocado industry because it matures late and is preferred by overseas consumers”
e6“The probable explanation for this increase is that mulching ameliorates overall plant stress”
The same questions in other papers
fertilization · growth · Persea americana (avocado)Positive and negative results
8 papers in the same direction as this paper · 4 in the opposite direction
- negative
- no effect
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See all 13 papers →mulching · disease · Persea americana (avocado)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
mulching · yield · Persea americana (avocado)Results agree
4 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
1 paper more in this group
See all 5 papers →mulching · growth · Persea americana (avocado)Results agree
6 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
3 papers more in this group
See all 7 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.