Fruit tree physiology

Fruit tree physiology studies how fruit trees grow, develop, flower, produce fruit, and respond to environmental conditions and cultivation.

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Bud dormancy: A temporary suspension of visible growth in buds, regulated by internal signals and environmental conditions. Dormancy times when buds resume growth and flower after winter.
Apical dominance: The suppression of lateral bud growth by signals associated with an actively growing shoot tip. It helps explain how shoot growth responds to pruning and training.
Pruning: The selective removal of plant parts to shape growth, manage size, or influence flowering and fruiting. Pruning changes canopy light, shoot growth, and the balance between vegetative and reproductive growth.
Frost injury: Plant tissue damage caused by freezing temperatures or ice formation within or around cells. Frost can destroy flowers or young fruit during sensitive stages.
Chilling requirement: The cold exposure needed by many fruit trees to end dormancy and support normal budbreak and flowering. Insufficient winter chilling can delay or disrupt flowering.
Cambium: A layer of dividing cells in woody plants that produces secondary xylem and phloem. Cambial activity builds the wood and conducting tissues of fruit trees.
Crop load: The number or mass of fruit carried by a tree relative to its size or leaf area. Managing crop load affects fruit size, tree reserves, and return bloom.
Heat stress in plants: Plant dysfunction caused by exposure to temperatures high enough to disrupt physiological processes. Heat can impair photosynthesis, fruit growth, and reproductive development.
Flower induction: The physiological transition by which a vegetative bud acquires the capacity to develop into a flower. It determines whether future buds produce flowers or shoots.
Phloem: Vascular tissue that transports sugars and other organic compounds through a plant. It moves carbon from leaves and reserves to growing fruit and roots.