Floral biology of 'Bulida' apricot trees subjected to postharvest drought stress.
Ruiz-Sanchez, M. C.; Egea, J.; Galego, R.; Torrecillas, A.;
Annals of Applied Biology Year: 1999 Vol: 135 Issue: 2 Pages: 523-528 Ref: 27 ref.
1999
บทคัดย่อ
Drip irrigated Bulida apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca on Real Fino apricot rootstock) were submitted to drought stress by withholding irrigation for 2 different postharvest periods for 2 consecutive years in SE Spain. The first treatment (T-1) started immediately after harvest, and lasted 1.5 months, while the second treatment (T-2) started when the first treatment finished and lasted 2 months. These stress treatments were compared with a control treatment (T-0), which was irrigated throughout the year so that it received an amount of water equivalent to 100% of the crop evapotranspiration demand. Flowers from the 3 treatments showed similar quality (fresh weight, petal surface area and pistil length) and frequent macrostyly (stigma located above the anthers). A lower percentage of pollen germination was observed in grains from the following year's flowers in plants from the T-1 treatment. The T-1 drought stress also induced a significant decrease in fruit yield, due to an increase in fruitlet d
rop. The T-2 treatment did not affect these processes and was not critical as regards apricot yield. The fruits harvested met the required standards of quality in all treatments.