Articles
FRUIT SET AND FLOWER QUALITY IN EARLY AND LATE FLOWERS IN APRICOT
Article number
862_36
Pages
233 – 236
Language
English
Abstract
Low fruit set in fruit trees has been traditionally related to weather conditions.
In apricot, flowering takes place in winter or early spring, when adverse meteorological conditions can influence the pollination process and subsequent fruit set.
The blooming period usually lasts one to two weeks in most cultivars and locations.
Thus, external conditions can strongly vary over this period, and flowers in the same tree could have different conditions during their development depending on the time of anthesis.
In order to evaluate whether the capacity of flowers to set fruits is affected by the time of anthesis, in this work flower development and fruit drop have been characterised in early and late flowers of the cv.
Moniqui.
Flowers from both populations were hand-pollinated with compatible pollen.
A set of flowers were weekly counted in marked branches from anthesis to harvest.
Another set of flowers were collected at anthesis, weighed and anatomically characterized.
Fruit set in early flowers was considerably higher than in late flowers.
These differences in the capacity of flowers to set fruits between early and late flowers were associated with differences in the size of different floral structures.
Results are discussed in terms of the implications of floral differences at anthesis in the subsequent fruit set.
In apricot, flowering takes place in winter or early spring, when adverse meteorological conditions can influence the pollination process and subsequent fruit set.
The blooming period usually lasts one to two weeks in most cultivars and locations.
Thus, external conditions can strongly vary over this period, and flowers in the same tree could have different conditions during their development depending on the time of anthesis.
In order to evaluate whether the capacity of flowers to set fruits is affected by the time of anthesis, in this work flower development and fruit drop have been characterised in early and late flowers of the cv.
Moniqui.
Flowers from both populations were hand-pollinated with compatible pollen.
A set of flowers were weekly counted in marked branches from anthesis to harvest.
Another set of flowers were collected at anthesis, weighed and anatomically characterized.
Fruit set in early flowers was considerably higher than in late flowers.
These differences in the capacity of flowers to set fruits between early and late flowers were associated with differences in the size of different floral structures.
Results are discussed in terms of the implications of floral differences at anthesis in the subsequent fruit set.
Authors
J. Rodrigo, E. Rivas , M. Herrero
Keywords
Prunus armeniaca, anthesis, flowering, pistil, pollination
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