Photoperiod, air temperature and soil moisture are factors that determine the yield of yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims f. flavicarpa Deg.). The low yield from August to November is due to the lack of flowering and fructification of the plant because of climatic conditions. The aim of this work was to evaluate flowering and fructification of yellow passion fruit submitted to artificial light, irrigation and shade. Four systems of production were compared: artificial light/irrigation/shade; artificial light/irrigation; artificial light/shade; artificial light and a natural condition system. The treatments were submitted to artificial light in three different days: April 12, April 27 and May 12. The experiment was carried out at Escola Técnica Agrícola de Adamantina, SP, Brazil, from April to November of 1997. The results permited to conclude that artificial light with and without irrigation increased the number of flowers, the number of fruits and total yield of yellow passion fruit. The irrigation did not affect the flowering, the fructification and the yield in the treatment with artificial light, but reduced the number of flowers in the shaded treatment. The shading with and without irrigation reduced the number of flowers. The artificial light/irrigation/shade treatment increased the percentage of fructification. The flowering, the fructification and the yield were not significantly affected by the different times of lighting.
yellow passion fruit; photoperiod; out off-season yield
