STUDIES ON THINNING, BAGGING AND ALUMINUM SILICATE SPRAYING ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF WANDERFULL POMEGRANATE

Abstract

This investigation was carried out to study the effect of hand thinning, bagging and spraying with aluminum silicate on yield and fruit quality of Wanderfull pomegranate cv. The obtained results revealed that hand thinning alone or with bagging significantly reduced the number of fruits/tree than bagging only or spraying with aluminum silicate. Yet, the effect of these treatments was on yield/tree pronounced. Since, hand tinning alone or with bagging significantly increased both fruit weight and size than the control. The data also revealed that, bagging the fruit or spraying with aluminum silicate significantly reduced the percent of sunburn damages than hand thinning or the control. Bagging the fruits gave zero percent of sunburn. Furthermore, hand thinning with bagging or spraying the trees with aluminum silicate increased the values of soluble solids % and anthocyanin content in the skin of the fruits and in juice than hand thinning or the control. For protecting fruits of Wanderfull pomegranate from sunburn damage and improving fruit quality it is advised to use hand thinning with bagging.