Mystery Spot of `Enterprise' Apples Appears to Be a Low-calcium Disorder

Abstract

The apple cultivar Enterprise is a product of the Purdue–Rutgers–Illinois (PRI) disease-resistant apple breeding program. It has field immunity to apple scab, has a high level of resistance to cedar apple rust and fire blight, and is moderately resistant to apple powdery mildew. This resistance to these diseases makes the production of this cultivar desirable, especially on the popular fire blight-susceptible M.26 rootstock. Compared to many other scab-resistant cultivars, `Enterprise' has performed well in the mid-Atlantic area. However, this cultivar has been reported to be susceptible to low-Ca disorders when grown in New Jersey and Virginia. The mid-Atlantic area is notorious for the production of fruit with high levels of corking and bitter pit. This may be due to factors such as vigorous tree growth and low transpirational flow, which may be weather-related. Circumstantial evidence based on the production of clean `Enterprise' at Biglerville, Pa., where moderately high rates of CaCl2 have been applied in cover sprays, indicate that this disorder may be a Ca deficiency symptom. A replicated trial of many scab-resistant cultivars was established in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Due to the common incidence of low-Ca disorders, CaCl2 has been added to the cover spray program that is applied for insect control. Low-Ca disorders have never been seen in fruit produced at Biglerville, and the cover spray program applied 67 and 73 kg·ha–1 of CaCl2 (77% to 80% CaCl2, flake) in 1993 and 1994, respectively.