Abstract

CABEZAS-GUTIERREZ, Marco  and  RODRIGUEZ E, Carlos Andrés. Horticultural techniques for improving orange fruit (Citrus sinensis L.) size and quality. Agron. colomb. [online]. 2010, vol.28, n.1, pp.55-62. ISSN 0120-9965.

Seeking to improve the fruit quality of Sweet Orange grafted on the dwarf rootstock 'Flying Dragon', the present research study tested a series of techniques, namely branch ringing, partial defoliation, fruit thinning, foliar fertilization, sucrose application to the foliage and pruning of non-productive branches. The work was carried out on 9 year old trees in a comercial orchard in the north of the department of Valle del Cauca (Colombia). In comparing the treatment results to the control, it was observed that: i) productive branch ringing significantlyinfluenced total fruit production per plant and increased fruit retention on the tree by 38%; ii) sucrose application improved fruit internal quality through increasing total soluble solid content by 10% and reducing acidity by 36%. Neither fruit thinning nor foliar fertilization showed any significant differences with the control. It can be concluded that the combination of branch ringing and external application of sucrose can be useful for improving orange fruit quality in the Colombian coffee zone.

Keywords : citrus; fruit crops; branch ringing; sucrose.

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