Detailed Analysis of the Branch Growth Habits of Macadamia
Macadamia branches flush 3 or 4 times a year. In the southern Guangxi and western Guangdong regions of China, young macadamia trees flush more than 4 times a year, with each flush taking about 40 days on average from budbreak to maturity, and the interval from the maturity of a new flush to the budbreak of the next flush averaging 18-28 days. Adult
Macadamia branches flush 3 or 4 times a year. In the southern Guangxi and western Guangdong regions of China, young macadamia trees flush more than 4 times a year, with each flush taking about 40 days on average from budbreak to maturity, and the interval from the maturity of a new flush to the budbreak of the next flush averaging 18-28 days. Adult bearing trees in Guangzhou and the western Guangdong region flush 3 times a year, with the peak seasons being the spring flush in April, the summer flush at the end of June, and the late autumn flush in October; in addition, in every month of the year a small number of scattered flushes occur on the canopy. From mid-July to late August, during the high-temperature season, macadamia grows slowly; in low-temperature varieties such as 508 and 344, the new flushes during this period often have difficulty changing color, developing a physiological disorder in which the leaves turn yellow and even whitish. From the end of December to the end of February of the following year, in normal years there is almost no flushing.
Macadamia flushes are generally 30-50 cm long, with 7-10 nodes, and on vigorous young trees or certain varieties the longest flushes exceed 1.0 m. The vast majority of macadamia bearing branches are 1.5-3-year-old inner-canopy old branches, which is especially evident in young trees bearing fruit for the first time; a small number of bearing branches are even inner-canopy small branches just a few centimeters long. At the base of a flush there is a distinct leafless node, and at the tip of the flush are incompletely developed leaves that are small and scale-like; in each leaf axil there are three vertically arranged buds, and when these buds flush simultaneously with the main branch, 9 (or 12) branches will appear. This phenomenon occurs from time to time, but usually only the top 3 buds of the three-whorled leaves germinate simultaneously.
Macadamia flushes are generally 30-50 cm long, with 7-10 nodes, and on vigorous young trees or certain varieties the longest flushes exceed 1.0 m. The vast majority of macadamia bearing branches are 1.5-3-year-old inner-canopy old branches, which is especially evident in young trees bearing fruit for the first time; a small number of bearing branches are even inner-canopy small branches just a few centimeters long. At the base of a flush there is a distinct leafless node, and at the tip of the flush are incompletely developed leaves that are small and scale-like; in each leaf axil there are three vertically arranged buds, and when these buds flush simultaneously with the main branch, 9 (or 12) branches will appear. This phenomenon occurs from time to time, but usually only the top 3 buds of the three-whorled leaves germinate simultaneously.