Fruit attributes dependence on fruiting cladode dry or fresh matter in Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller variety ‘Rojo Pelón’

• The number of fruits is dependent on fruiting cladode physical attributes.
• The fruit load per cladode depends on fruiting cladodes fresh and dry weights.
• Cladode dry or fresh matter may be used to know which cladodes will produce fruits.

The wide range of environmental conditions in which Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller grows implies a great variability in fruit yield and fruit ripening, among other aspects. There is scarce scientific knowledge about fruit yield and fruit quality dependence on within-tree factors such as plant architecture, fruiting cladode position and cladode characteristics, especially over multiple growing seasons. In this work, we addressed the dependence of fruit attributes to the weight of fruiting cladodes for the ‘Rojo Pelón’ variety using the boundary line approach and including a 3-year database (2012–2014). Our results suggest that 14.4 g to 33 g (depending on the year) could be the minimum fruiting cladode dry weight (CDW) required for producing fruits. In general, above 156 g CDW or cladode excess dry weight, the number of fruits per cladode decreased. Considering data from the three years, cladodes with 1497 g of fresh weight were able to produce mean fruit weight per fruiting cladode (MFWC) of 154 g. The maximum load (1602 g) occurred on fruiting cladodes with 1629 g of fresh matter, and corresponded to 2014. These fruiting cladodes grew during 2013, the wettest year of the study (rainfall of 556.2 mm). Remarkably, fruiting cladode excess dry and fresh matter required for producing fruit could be important factors to avoid high variation between productivity levels in successive years. These attributes may be convenient indexes for predicting which cladode will produce fruits.