Fruit size progress report – early February 2011

2011-02 | Future Orchards® Business Development Program

A report covering regional fruit-size trends as Gala approached harvest and later cultivars continued sizing.

The series treats fruit diameter as an in-season management signal rather than simply a harvest measurement. Repeated readings from the same representative fruit allow growers to see whether a block is tracking above, below or close to its expected growth curve and then relate that behaviour to crop load, irrigation, nutrition, seasonal conditions and harvest timing.

The February 2011 report, for example, showed clear regional differences as Gala neared harvest: Tasmanian fruit was still growing at more than 3 mm per week, Batlow and South Australia were around 2.5–3 mm per week, while Victoria had dropped below 2 mm per week. Cripps Pink had slowed to about 2 mm per week, and the report cautioned that a later growth surge could increase cracking risk. It also reminded growers to record harvest dates, yield, estimated packout and returns in OrchardNet so block performance could be benchmarked after the season.