EFFECTS OF BAGGING ON FRUIT GROWTH AND QUALITY OF CARAMBOLA

The effects of bagging date and bag type on fruit size, fruit quality and fruit drop of carambola were investigated.
Three types of bags, plastic bag, self-made newspaper bag and non-woven cloth bag, were used 17 days after full bloom and bagging with plastic bags was carried out 10, 17, 24, and 31 days after full bloom respectively.
The results showed that bagging with plastic bags increased average fruit weight, and it was the highest when bagging was carried out 10 days after full bloom.
The effect of fruit bagging on fruit width and length varied with bagging dates.
Increases in fruit width and length of earlier two times of bagging were larger than that of non-bagging.
On the contrary, those of later two times of bagging were not affected or slightly smaller than that of non-bagging.
On the other hand, fruits bagged with newspaper bag or non-woven cloth bag were slightly smaller than non-bagging fruits.
Fruit quality varied with bag types and bagging dates but there were no statistically significant differences among treatments.
Both bagging date and bag type significantly decreased the percentage of fruit drop.
The results suggested that bagging of carambola should be conducted 10 to 17 days after full bloom and plastic bags were the best among the tested three types.

XXVII International Horticultural Congress – IHC2006: International Symposium on Citrus and Other Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Crops

C.X. Xu, H.B. Chen, R.Y. Huang, Y.J. He

ascorbic acid, fruit drop, fruit size, fruit weight, soluble solids, titratable acidity

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.773.28