GROWTH AND FLOWERING RESPONSE OF SWEET CHERRY CULTIVARS TO PROHEXADIONE-CALCIUM AND ETHEPHON

Single applications of prohexadione-calcium (P-Ca, Apogee^®, BASF) or ethephon (ETH, Ethrel^®, Bayer) to young, non-cropping ‘Attika’, ‘Bing’ and ‘Regina’/Mazzard sweet cherry trees in 2000 produced only small, short-term reductions in terminal shoot elongation rate.
Single applications of P-Ca, ETH or the tank mix were ineffective for stimulating flower bud formation.
Double applications of P-Ca, ETH or the tank mix in 2001 decreased terminal shoot elongation rates in ‘Attika’ and ‘Bing’ either temporarily or for the entire season and reduced final shoot growth in ‘Attika’. ETH alone reduced shoot growth in ‘Bing’ and ‘Regina’, and P-Ca combined with ETH produced an additional growth reduction only in ‘Bing’. Two applications of P-Ca alone did not improve flowering in any cultivar; two ETH applications increased flowering on shoots and spurs in ‘Attika’ and ‘Bing’ but only on shoots in ‘Regina’. Combining the bioregulators did not affect flower-bud induction.
Yield in 2002 was increased by 2001 ETH treatments only in ‘Attika’.

XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Key Processes in the Growth and Cropping of Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees

D.C. Elfving, M.D. Whiting, G.A. Lang, D.B. Visser

plant growth regulators, bioregulators, Apogee^®, Ethrel^®, vegetative growth, bloom, fruiting, yield, Prunus avium, prohexadione-calcium

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.636.8