PRUNING PROTEA CULTIVAR CARNIVAL FOR BIENNIAL CROPS OF IMPROVED YIELD AND QUALITY

Plants of Protea cv.
Carnival (a natural hybrid, possibly between P. neriifolia and P. compacta) were pruned at two different times of the year, over a five year period.
Pruning in Spring induced a biennial bearing pattern, while pruning in Autumn, induced an annual bearing pattern.
The biennial harvest of 1993 averaged 54.7 salable blooms per bush, 82% more than the cumulative annual harvests of 1992 and 1993. The stem length of 89% of the flowers from the biennial harvest was longer than 50 cm, while only 6% of the flowers from the annual harvests had stems longer than 50 cm.
The biennial harvests reached picking maturity predominantly in February (southern hemisphere), two months earlier than the annual harvests.
Mature bushes harvested and pruned for the annual cycle, can be induced into the biennial cycle of bearing by specific pruning techniques.
A model for pruning new plantings into the biennial cycle of production, for improved yield and quality, is also proposed.

IV International Protea Working Group Symposium

H.B. Hettasch, A.I. Gerber, K.I. Theron, G. Jacobs

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.453.16