Fruit size progress report – February–March 2012

February–March 2012 | Prepared by John Wilton | Future Orchards® Business Development Program

This report follows the 2011–12 crop into the later part of the season and shows how fruit-size monitoring can reveal changes that were not obvious earlier. Royal Gala sizing had initially tracked close to or slightly ahead of the previous season, but later growth slowed and the period from full bloom to harvest lengthened.

Two Royal Gala examples illustrate the interaction between crop load and harvest timing. VC40 moved from 124 days full bloom-to-harvest in 2011 to 128 days in 2012, while Fisher Road Royal Gala lengthened from 126 to 138 days. Fisher Road was carrying almost double the previous crop and had received ReTain®. The report attributes the extended season to a combination of seasonal conditions, heavier crop load and the growth regulator.

ReTain® was applied after monitoring showed fruit size below target and delayed harvest by about 7–10 days, adding an estimated 2.5–3.0 mm in diameter. The report notes that a 3 mm increase was equivalent to roughly 24 g additional average fruit weight in that example. It also highlights a large location effect, with Royal Gala harvest timing varying by roughly five weeks across districts, reinforcing the need to interpret national target curves through each block’s own flowering, crop-load and maturity history.