COMPETITION AMONG FRUITS IN OLIVE II. INFLUENCE OF INFLORESCENCE OR FRUIT THINNING AND CROSS-POLLINATION ON FRUIT SET COMPONENTS AND CROP EFFICIENCY

Regulation of the number of fruits in olive occurs in the 40–50 days after full bloom (FB), thus the only period of abscission of fruits takes place during this time and is originated by different causes.

Fruit setting and crop components (percent of fruitful inflorescences, number of fruit per inflorescence and fruit size) were affected by thinning at different periods between FB and FB+45. These treatments showed compensation between crop components leading to an increase in fruit setting (early thinning) or in fruit size (late thinning).

Factorial cross-pollination and fruit thinning experiments showed that the response to cross-pollination was dependent on cultivar and/or year.
When cross-pollination increase fruit setting it did so for any level of thinning, although the amount of setting was higher in inflorescence-thinned treatments than in control.
However this increase in setting did not compensate for the reduction in crop efficiency (number of fruits/cm of bearing shoot) caused by thinning treatments.

Competition among fruits in olive is discussed.

Flowering and Fruit Set in Fruit Trees

Ma. Paz Suarez, R. Fernandez-Escobar, L. Rallo

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1984.149.16