Bud Dormancy in the Kiwi Fruit, Actinidia chinensis Planch

A study of lateral bud dormancy in Actinidia chinensis has shown that true dormancy can be induced, especially in short days at warm and constant temperatures This dormancy can be broken quantitatively by chilling but temperatures as high as 10 °C are effective The dormancy appears to be due to an inhibitor (possibly ABA), apparently stored in the special bud cover a special structure in Kiwi fruit which may represent fused stipules Removal of the cover also admits oxygen and light, both of which have promoting effects on bud break Application of ABA enhances dormancy (as do crude extracts tentatively identified as ABA) while GA3 application enhances dormancy before chilling and promotes bud break only after chilling