The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of mechanical-manual thinning at different developmental stages in the thinning efficiency and productive performance of ‘Sensa??o’ peach trees.The experiment was performed during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons, in a commercial orchard located in Morro Redondo (RS), Brazil.Plant material consisted of 7-year-old peach trees grafted on Capdeboscq rootstock and trained as an open-vase system.The experiment was arranged as a randomized block design, with five three-trees replications.In order to reduce the effect of personal experience, the treatments and measurements were applied by the same person in a set of replications throughout the experiment.Treatments consisted of: control I [without thinning (WT)]; control II [hand thinning (HT) 40 days after full bloom (40 DAFB)]; MmT at full bloom (FB): 50% of open flowers; MmT at the end of bloom (EB): 80-100% of open flowers; MmT at petal fall (PF); and MmT at the green fruit (GF) stage (fruit with ~1 cm of diameter).The MmT was performed using a hand-held portable device.The parameters assessed were: percentage of thinning, fruit set, thinning time, work economy, production per tree, fruit mass, estimated yield and fruit size distribution.The use of the MmT at the stages tested reduces thinning time of ‘Sensa??o’ peach trees, resulting in labor saving, as well as increases the percentage of fruit in category (CAT) 1.The MmT when performed at GF results in a higher percentage of thinning.The treatment MmT at FB increases the average fruit mass.
展开▼
