Abstract
Due to the significant variation in the initial fruit set of apples among seasons and producing regions of Chihuahua, Mexico, it is important to determine the cause(s). Apple fruit yield is strongly determined by the initial fruit set, which is the result of a series of physiological events, such as pollination, pollen tube growth, ovule longevity and fertilisation. During one or two seasons, in the two main apple-producing regions in the state of Chihuahua, México, the effective pollination period (EPP) was evaluated in "Golden Delicious", "RedChief Delicious" and "Golden Delicious Tardío", a regional mutant of Golden Delicious. Daily manual pollinations after the full pink stage were made with "Snow Drift" pollen to determine the EPP. The initial fruit set at 30 days after the last day of hand pollination was evaluated. A daily sampling of flowers was used to measure the pollen tube growth (average growth of 11.70 mm at 96 h) in the pistil and ovule viability in the ovary. The EPP lasted 6 days for RedChief Delicious, 4 days for Golden Delicious, and 10 days for Golden Delicious Tardío. The average ovule longevity of 63% seemed to be a limiting factor for Golden Delicious, leading to a reduced initial fruit set.
Highlights
Due to the significant variation in the initial fruit set of apples among seasons and producing regions of Chihuahua, Mexico, it is important to determine the cause(s)
Apple production is a result of a series of physiological events (Sanzol and Herrero, 2001), including fruit set
In the geographical regions of the present study, the initial fruit set is highly variable from year to year and is a factor that directly affects the harvest
Summary
Due to the significant variation in the initial fruit set of apples among seasons and producing regions of Chihuahua, Mexico, it is important to determine the cause(s). The objectives for this study were as follows: 1) to determine the effective pollination period (EPP) of ‘Golden Delicious’ (main apple cultivar in the state and country), ‘RedChief Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious Tardío’ apples; and 2) to determine if the evaluated Snow Drift pollen tube growth and/or ovule longevity (viability) of the cultivars were key factors affecting the EPP. RedChief Delicious apple, a cultivar reported as having fruit set problems due to pollination (GuerreroPrieto et al, 2006), was evaluated during one season, only in Cuauhtemoc, due to late frost damage in the flowers.
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