Yield and exudate measurements
Phloem exudate was collected using the method described by Pérez-Alfocea et al. (2000). The distal stem with the shoot apex and the two youngest expanded leaves were excised and the basal 2-3 cm immediately immersed in a 150 mL glass containing 30 mL of 20 mM EDTA (pH 6, adjusted with LiOH to avoid interactions with cation measurements). Each container with the plant material was placed in a plastic bag and hermetically sealed. The exudate was obtained by incubating the plant material for 20 h in the dark at room temperature.
Total yield was calculated using all the fruits collected from each plant during the harvest period. Fully ripe fruits were harvested weekly for two months. The truss length and fruit weight were also recorded in the 3rd truss. Fruit at green and mature stages were harvested for hormonal analysis. Leaf, root and truss xylem sap was obtained by applying a pneumatic pressure (between -0.6 and -0.7 MPa) to excised organs. Sap was collected with a pipette, immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C for hormonal analysis.