Chemical blossom thinning of peaches

摘要

As with any commodity in which we compete globally, processing peach growers must reduce costs. Hand thinning extra early and early cling peach varieties can easily represent 30 percent of our annual production expenses. There are two thinning agents currently available to peach growers that can help reduce costs. One is a blossom thinner called Entry, which is applied at bloom to thin off flowers and thus reduce fruit set. Another material is Release~(R), a gibberellic acid material that is applied mid-season and reduces the number of flowers present the following spring. Last season 1 monitored a few simple tests growers conducted in their own orchards with Entry blossom thinner. One grower applied Entry to Loadel cling peaches, Spring Snow white peaches, and Arctic Star white nectarines. Entry was applied at a 3 percent concentration (3 gallons of Entry in each 100 gallons of water). We compared a few rows sprayed with a standard application at 100 gallons per acre, an electrostatic application at 40 gallons per acre and unsprayed trees.