Abstract
Crop load management is growing increasingly important as a factor related to biennial tendencies, post-harvest disorders, and inconsistent fruit quality in apples like “Honeycrisp”. Washington State University released a new apple cultivar, called “WA38”, in 2017. Limited literature is available about the productive characteristics of this new cultivar. An experimental trial evaluating the effect of crop load on leaf area, fruit quality, mineral composition, and return bloom of “WA38” was conducted for two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) to determine an optimal crop load. Trees were trained as a spindle and grafted on Malling-9 Nic29 (Nic29) rootstocks. Crop loads were adjusted to 2, 4, 6, and 8 fruits/cm2 of trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA). Crop load had a significant effect on production, with yields ranging from 28 to 83 MT/ha in 2017. Fruit quality was impacted by increasing crop load, with a reduction in fruit weight, soluble solid content, firmness, dry matter, titratable acidity, and a delay in maturity. Leaf-to-fruit ratios were higher in lower crop loads. Relatively consistent flower bud formation was seen at the 6 and 8 fruits/cm2 categories. A possible threshold for optimal fruit quality and consistent bloom was identified around 6 fruits/cm2 TCSA.
Highlights
Washington State University’s Apple Breeding Program developed a new cultivar, “WA38”, commercially traded as “Cosmic Crisp® ”
trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) ranged from 10.5 to 14.2 cm2, and there was no statistical difference between trunk areas for the selected trees
With respect to average apple fruit weight, a statistical difference emerged between the first crop load level (2.1 fruits/cm2 ) and the others, while
Summary
Washington State University’s Apple Breeding Program developed a new cultivar, “WA38”, commercially traded as “Cosmic Crisp® ”. It was released to the fruit industry for commercial production in 2017. Millions of trees are projected to be planted in Washington (WA) in the upcoming years (nearly seven million “WA38” trees were planted in spring 2018, and five million more are expected to be planted in 2019) [1]. “WA38” is the result of a cross between “Enterprise” and “Honeycrisp” [2]. “WA38” is classified for its growth habit as a type IV cultivar [3], which indicates an acrotonic tree growth, with a natural tendency to produce on the outer part of the canopy, leaving “blind wood” or unproductive wood closer to the trunk
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