The low bud fertility has been one of the most limiting factors in vineyards at São Paulo State, and this problem has been correlated, in many cases, to the excess of plant vigor. In this context, a trial was carried out in a commercial vineyard of 'Italia' table grape, located at São Miguel Arcanjo (SP), Brazil. The experimental design was in complete randomized blocks with six treatments and four replications. The vine shoots were sprayed with cycocel at 0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500mg.L-1, 60 days after pruning. The variables evaluated were: percentage of fertile buds; distribution of fertile buds per shoot sector; percentage of bud necrosis; weight, length and diameter of internodes. Applications of cycocel linearly increased the percentage of bud fertility and the proportion of fertile buds between first and fifth basal buds. Furthermore, this growth regulator reduced the incidence of bud necrosis and the weight of internodes, presenting quadratic effect for these variables.
grapes; plant regulator; flowering physiology
