A thinning trial was conducted on the apple cultivar ‘Fuji’ on MM106 rootstocks at the Grove Research Station, Tasmania, in the 1989â€"90 season using naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 7.5 ppm or ethephon at 400 ppm as thinning sprays. Both chemicals were sprayed alone at full bloom (FB) or 10 days post full bloom (PFB) or at both times and in combinations with NAA before ethephon or ethephon before NAA. Only combinations which included ethephon thinned consistently enough to produce fruit in excess of 200 g/apple. NAA, particularly when sprayed at PFB, produced some very small fruit (pygmy fruit). Ethephon, when sprayed at FB, caused excessive russeting. It is concluded that ethephon at FB is currently the only satisfactory thinning spray for ‘Fuji’. The susceptibility of the cultivar to russet needs further study as do methods of improving the efficiency of NAA. © Crown copyright 1991.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Horticultural production
Research Field:	Horticultural crop growth and development
Objective Division:	Plant Production and Plant Primary Products
Objective Group:	Horticultural crops
Objective Field:	Pome fruit, pip fruit
UTAS Author:	Jones, KM (Mr Keith Jones)
UTAS Author:	Bound, SA (Dr Sally Bound)
ID Code:	26548
Year Published:	1991
Web of Science® Times Cited:	22
Deposited By:	Agricultural Science
Deposited On:	2003-08-01
Last Modified:	2007-06-26
Downloads:	0