Poster: Late and Moved Abstracts

Abs # 1405: Effect of Shading on Vegetative Growth and Fruiting of Coffee (Coffea arabica L.)

Presenter:	Kobayashi, Kent D., kentko@hawaii.edu
Authors	Kobayashi, Kent D. (A)   Liu, Lawrence  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): University of Hawaii at Manoa, Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences Dept.

A shade experiment with pruned coffee (Coffea arabica L.) trees was conducted on Maui, Hawaii to determine the effect of different shade levels on vegetative growth and fruiting. Nine-year old 'Guadalupe' trees were stumped at 70 cm above the ground, and three main verticals were allowed to remain on the main trunk. Stumped trees were randomly selected and covered with different shadecloths. The shadecloths were 30%, 50%, and 70% shade with each shadecloth structure having the dimensions of 1.5 m (length) x 1.5 m (width) x 2.5 m (height). In general, the basal diameters and the lengths of the verticals were similar in all treatments. The total number of laterals in the full light treatment was slightly greater than that of the other treatments. The numbers of flowering laterals were similar in all treatments. The numbers of fruits per tree in the full light, 30%, 50%, and 70 % shade treatments were 1876, 3434, 2399, and 403, respectively. The number of fruits per flowering node was found to be the best index relating to yield. Fruits/node was highest in the 30% shade treatment, followed by the full light and 70% shade treatments. At the beginning, fruits ripened faster in the full light treatment than in the other treatments. At the end of September, fruits in the 70% shade treatment ripened slower than the other treatments. In conclusion, after stumping, coffee trees grew best under 30% shade. For coffee pruning under field conditions, stumping every other row may be a satisfactory way to obtain optimum yields.