Postharvest water stress of an early maturing plum

Abstract

Postharvest water stress was imposed on a May harvested plum (Primus salicina Lindl. cv. Red Beaut) over a three year period. Control trees were irrigated at approximately 100% ET. One stress treatment (Tl) received 50% of the water applied to the control. The second stress treatment (T2) was subjected to cycles of on-and-off irrigation which varied from year to year. All treatments were fully irrigated at about 100% ET through harvest. Treatment Tl received about 30 cm less irrigation water than the control and showed no decrease in yield, fruit weight or fruit quality over all three years. Treatment T2 received about the same amount of water as Tl in the first two years of the experiment and also showed no decrease in productivity. In the third year, T2 was irrigated only for a single three week period after harvest which saved over 60 cm of applied water. The trees were extensively defoliated by the end of the season, showed some shoot and scaffold dieback, and had reduced yields in the following year....