ORCHARD FACTORS AFFECTING NUTRIENT CONTENT AND FRUIT QUALITY

When dormancy has been broken and the bloom period begins, many important factors come into play that can affect ultimate fruit quality. These relate to pollination, fertilisation, seed number and fruit set. The reason why this is important is, because the number of seeds may influence the rate of calcium transport to the apples, probably by production and transport of auxins. On the other hand, fruits which develop from terminal flowers are richer in calcium than those developing from lateral ones. The location of the fruits in the tree crown also influencing calcium concentration, and the incidence of physiological disorders; there are more fruits affected in the upper parts. This is probably due to the poorer calcium input to these fruits. Cropping level of the tree is also a factor. Fruits from trees with light crops show generally a lower calcium concentration and they are more prone to bitter pit and internal breakdown. It seems that fruits compete with vegetative tissues in some manner for calcium transported from the root system. Summer pruning can have a strong positive effect on fruit quality, which at least in part is associated with increased Ca levels. Calcium treatments have also been shown to reduce the occurrence of physiological disorders.

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