New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Crop loading studies with `Royal Gala' and `Braeburn' apples:
effect of time and level of hand thinning
S. McARTNEY
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand
Canterbury Research Centre
P. O. Box 51
Lincoln, New Zealand
J. W. PALMER
H. M. ADAMS
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand
Nelson Research Centre
P. O. Box 220
Motueka, New Zealand
Abstract The effects of time and level (fruit number/tree) of
hand thinning on fruit size were investigated for `Royal Gala' and `Braeburn'
apple (Malus domestica (Borkh.)) trees growing on dwarfing rootstocks.
Early thinning resulted in larger fruit at harvest in three separate
experiments whereas the number of fruit per tree had a significant influence on
mean fruit weight in only one experiment. Compared to thinning at full bloom
(FB), mean fruit weight of `Royal Gala' at harvest was reduced by 16% when
thinning was delayed by 3-4 weeks after full bloom (WAFB), with a much smaller
decrease in weight with further delay. `Braeburn' gave the opposite pattern,
with the greatest loss in mean fruit size at harvest being recorded when
thinning was delayed by 8 WAFB. Thinning 4 or 8 WAFB resulted in a 17% decrease
in leaf area per tree of `Royal Gala' compared to thinning at FB, whereas later
thinning of `Braeburn' reduced leaf area per tree by 6% per 4 weeks delay in
thinning. Removal of fruit from `Braeburn' spurs at FB reduced spur leaf size,
king flower receptacle diameter/dry weight, and bourse shoot length on that
spur in the year after treatment compared to removal at a later time.
Keywords hand thinning; Malus domestica (Borkh); crop
load
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 1996, Vol. 24:
401-407
0114-0671/96/2404-0401 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1996
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (505K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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