2013 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
To educate attendees about new PGR products available to commercial fruit growers for the enhancement of fruit color.

In this workshop industry representatives will present information about two exciting new PGR products available to commercial fruit growers for increasing the coloration of fruit.  The marketplace demands table grapes and apples with sufficient red color.  Development of this desired level of color is often a significant challenge for the grower.  Due to the variability in color development, growers use multiple harvests, over an extended harvest period, in order to harvest an entire crop.  Low color results in lower fruit quality, lower marketable yields, and potentially significant economic losses for the grower.  If fruit has insufficient color, the value is substantially decreased or the fruit is potentially unmarketable. Fruit color development can be influenced by a number of factors including the cultivar, rootstock, plant vigor, climate, canopy management, light exposure, crop load, irrigation, fertilization, and plant growth regulators.  Presenters will discuss the commercial development of Blush^TM , a new plant growth regulator developed by Fine Americas, Inc., to promote fruit color in red and bi-color apples which contains prohydrojasmon (PDJ), and formulations of S-Abscisic acid (S-ABA) for use on table grapes commercialized by Valent BioSciences Corporation (VBC) under the trade name of ProTone^®.