Hail nets do not affect the efficacy of metamitron for chemical thinning of apple tree
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Author
Gonzalez, Luis
Àvila, Gloria
Martin, Begoña
Recasens, Immaculada
Asin, Luis
Publication date
2019-06-19ISSN
1462-0316
Abstract
Hail nets reduce photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and alter the environment under the netting in apple orchards. Thus, we investigated the effect of nets on the efficacy of metamitron, a short-term photosynthesis inhibitor used for fruit thinning. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the netting and metamitron on thinning efficacy, yield, fruit quality and chlorophyll fluorescence in three apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars. One or two metamitron applications at different doses or rates were applied the tree under different coloured nets. The reduction of PAR was highest with black nets (19%-22%), followed by green (13%-15%) and white nets (6%-11%). There were no significant differences (P> 0.05) in fruit weight or size with or without nets. Double applications of metamitron increased average fruit fresh weight and reduced the fruit set over four experiments. In contrast, single applications were less effective. In two experiments, thinning was associated with lower yields. However, there was no effect in the other two experiments. The double treatments tended to increase the percentage of the crop with fruit larger than 70 mm in diameter. All thinning strategies showed similar inhibition in fluorescence, with the only observed significant differences between treatments occurring when using a single or double application. The results show that netting does not affect the response to thinning with metamitron.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Accepted version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
633 - Field crops and their production
Pages
19
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Is part of
Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology
Citation
Gonzalez, Luis, Gloria Àvila, Joaquim Carbó, Joan Bonany, Simo Alegre, Estanis Torres, Begoña Martin, Inmaculada Recasens, and Luis Asin. 2019. "Hail Nets Do Not Affect The Efficacy Of Metamitron For Chemical Thinning Of Apple Trees". The Journal Of Horticultural Science And Biotechnology, 95:1, 128-135. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14620316.2019.1631128.
Grant agreement number
MICINN/Programa Nacional de Proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/RTA2012-00116-00-0/ES/Metamitrona, una nueva herramienta para optimizar el aclareo químico en frutales/
Program
Fructicultura
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2811]