Abstract
Shoot apices in young, facultative, short-day strawberry plants (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv. Tochiotome) were removed to examine the role of apical dominance in the development of axillary buds into branch crowns and stolons. At planting, plants had 3 fully-expanded leaves associated with visible axillary buds and 2 expanding leaves. Young, expanding leaves were removed along with shoot apices one day after planting. Plants were grown in a glasshouse maintained at 25°C from 6:00 to 18:00 and 19°C from 19:00 to 5:00; day length was extended to 15 hr. Within a few days, new stolons were formed on the primary crowns in the intact control plants, whereas new stolons on treated plants formed on developing branch crowns 3 weeks after removal of their apices. Treated plants formed 3 branch crowns, while control plants formed single branch crowns just below the primary inflorescences. The results indicate that the lower axillary buds can develop into branch crowns even under long days and warm temperatures if the buds are released from aoical dominance.
