Prohexadione calcium reduces vegetative growth and increases fruit set of ‘Smith’ pear trees, in Southern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Carra,Bruno
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Spagnol,Daniel, Abreu,Everton Sozo de, Pasa,Mateus da Silveira, Silva,Carina Pereira da, Hellwig,Cristiano Geremias, Fachinello,José Carlos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Bragantia
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0006-87052017000300360
• topic: Pyrus sp.; vigor; plant growth regulators; return bloom; fruit quality

ABSTRACT Prohexadione calcium (P-Ca) has been reported to effectively control shoot growth in several pear cultivars, but with a few reports about its efficiency under the climatic conditions of southern Brazil. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate vegetative growth, production, and fruit quality of ‘Smith’ pear trees in response to the use of different rates of P-Ca in the climatic conditions of southern Brazil. The experiment was conducted during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons, in a 6-year-old ‘Smith’ pear orchard, trained to a central-leader system, with spacing of 1.5 × 4.8 m, grafted onto Pyrus calleryana Decne. Different P-Ca rates were applied (100, 200, 300, and 400 mg∙L–1) in different stages: first, in early spring for all treatments, and the others when shoot growth resumed (GR), but only for some treatments. Variables for vegetative growth, yield components and fruit quality at harvest and post-harvest were evaluated. The use of P-Ca was effective to control vegetative growth in both seasons, at different rates. Yield components were not affected by P-Ca applications in 2013/2014, except return bloom and return yield. In 2014/2015 season, P-Ca applications positively affected yield components, except average fruit weight and return bloom. P-Ca applications did not alter the qualitative attributes of the fruits of ‘Smith’ pear trees at harvest and after a period of cold storage. These results implicate P-Ca as a potential tool to manage vigor of ‘Smith’ pear trees in climatic conditions of southern Brazil.