Studies were conducted in 1995 and 1996 at Pontotoc country, Mississippi,
U.S.A. to find the effect of two chemical thinners namely: accel
(N-phenylmethyl) (H-purine 6-amine (6-BA) and carbaryl (1-Naphthyl carbamate)
sprayed two weeks after bloom on the apple fruit characteristics such as fruit
set, yield, etc. The three apple cultivars used were 'Empire', 'Jon-A-Red' and
'Braeburn'. The treatments comprised accel (25, 50 and 75 ppm), carbaryl
(0.05, 0.1 and 0.2%) and unsprayed control.
It was found that accel and carbaryl thinned the three apple cultivars and
yield (total fruit weight per tree), pH, sugar content were significantly (P£
0.05) increased by the chemical thinning sprays. Nevertheless, the treatments
did not affect (P£ 0.05) the number of seeds in the fruit, fruit length, fruit
diameter and fruit length to diameter ratio. The chemical thinner and cultivar
interactions were significant for some fruit characteristics.
