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The aim of this research was to assess how fruit tree age influences nutrient partitioning patterns in aboveground organs. We selected 6-year-old (mature) and 20-year-old (old) ‘Cresthaven’ peach trees and measured the macronutrient concentrations in organs removed during pruning, thinning, harvesting, and leaf fall for 3 years. Then, we calculated the total amount of nutrients removed at each event and studied the partitioning patterns between mature and old peach trees. The results showed that mature peach trees had higher phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentrations in fruit mesocarp and fallen leaves than old trees. When we estimated the total nutrient content, mature peach trees allocated more nitrogen (N), P, K, and calcium (Ca) to pruned wood and harvested fruit but had less N and Ca in senescing leaves compared with old peach trees. The results of this study suggest that the different proportion of organs removed through orchard management practices from trees of different ages as well as the concentration of nutrients in these organs must be considered when estimating nutrient restitution needs and tree nutritional requirements.

Maintaining shelf life and postharvest quality of blackberries (Rubus subgenus Rubus) from harvest to consumer is challenging for growers and packers due to several postharvest issues including fresh weight (FW) loss, red drupelet reversion, and fruit leakiness. The time of day blackberries are harvested, the time from harvest to cold storage, and the time in cold storage are factors that may alter the incidence and severity of these postharvest problems. In this experiment, blackberries from 10 cultivars were picked at two different times (7:00–7:30 am and 10:00–10:30 am), delivered to cold storage either immediately or following a 90-minute delay, and evaluated after 1 or 2 weeks in cold storage for FW loss, red drupelet reversion, and leakiness. The response of blackberry postharvest quality to time of harvest, delay to cold storage, and storage length was cultivar-specific. In summary, time of harvest, delay to cold storage or storage length did not affect cultivars Arapaho and Ouachita. Different harvest times did not affect FW or incidence of reddening, but increased leakiness in ‘Chester’ and ‘Triple Crown’; thus, these two cultivars should be preferably harvested early in the morning. Our recommendation for ‘Chester’, ‘Triple Crown’, ‘Osage’, ‘Prime-Ark^® Traveler’, and ‘Von’ is to store the fruit of these cultivars as soon as possible. Limiting cold storage to 1 week maintained postharvest quality for at least one attribute of most cultivars (all but Arapaho and Ouachita) compared with 2 weeks of storage.

Water deficit in young fruit trees can reduce growth and future orchard productivity. Exogenous silicon (Si) applications have been associated with induced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses such as water deficit, but the role of Si in fruit trees is still largely unexplored. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Si applications on water status and gas exchange of young peach trees. This study comprises two experiments arranged in a factorial design with two water regimens (well-irrigated or water-stressed) and three Si concentrations (0, 10, or 20 mg⋅L⁻¹ in the first experiment; 0, 20, or 40 mg⋅L⁻¹ in the second experiment). Si applications via foliar spray were performed weekly after the water regimens were clearly established. Tree water status (midday stem water potential), and gas exchange parameters (CO₂ assimilation, leaf transpiration, stomatal conductance, leaf water use efficiency) were measured. Si application at 10 or 20 mg⋅L⁻¹ improved water status of water-stressed trees without affecting gas exchange, but 40 mg⋅L⁻¹ reduced CO₂ assimilation. Thus, foliar applications of Si could be a promising strategy for nonirrigated, nonbearing orchards to maintain their water status during dry periods and/or improve their recovery from water deficit.

The photosynthetic light response of commercial blackberry cultivars (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus Watson) is largely unexplored, although they are frequently grown in full sun. In this experiment, light response curves of floricane leaves from the cultivars Natchez, Apache, Navaho, and Von were examined throughout the following production stages: before shiny black fruit were present (before harvest, BH), during peak production of fruit (peak harvest, PH), and when most fruit had fallen from plants or any remaining were dull black (after harvest, AH). Each cultivar was evaluated between an irradiance of 2000 and 0 μmol·m^–2·s^–1. The estimated maximum photosynthetic rate (photosynthetic capacity, P _Nmax ) was greater BH than AH across all cultivars, whereas ‘Natchez’ had a greater P _Nmax BH and PH compared with the other cultivars. During AH, all cultivars had a similar P _Nmax . The BH response curves declined under the highest irradiance measured, whereas the PH and AH response curves remained stable at similarly high irradiance. Of the four cultivars, Apache, Navaho, and Von appeared to be more photosynthetically limited than Natchez under increasing irradiance. Based on the cultivar-specific performance observed, blackberry response to light is a relevant trait that breeding programs should consider for improving cultivar adaptability to local and regional conditions.

We determined if frequency of application of irrigation water plus fertilizer in solution (fertigation) could modify root and shoot growth along with growth per unit nitrogen (N) and water uptake of seedlings of the citrus rootstock Swingle citrumelo growing in a greenhouse. In the first experiment, all plants received the same amount of water with sufficient fertilizer N but in three irrigation frequencies applied in 10 1.5-mL pulses per day, one 15-mL application per day, or 45 mL applied every 3 days. Plants irrigated at the highest frequency grew the least total dry weight and had the highest specific root length. Plants with lowest irrigation frequency grew the most and used the least water so had the highest water use efficiency. There were no irrigation frequency effects on relative growth allocation between shoot and roots, net gas exchange of leaves, or on leaf N. A second experiment used identical biweekly irrigation volumes and fertilizer rates, but water and fertilizer were applied using four frequency combinations: 1) daily fertigation; 2) daily irrigation with fertilizer solution applied every 15 days; 3) fertigation every 3 days; or 4) irrigation every 3 days and fertilizer solution applied every 14 days. Total plant growth was unaffected by treatments, but the highest frequency using the lowest fertilizer concentration grew the greatest root dry weight in the uppermost soil depths. Roots grew less and leaf N was highest when N was applied every 15 days, implying that root N uptake efficiency was increased when fertigated with the highest fertilizer concentration. All plants had similar water use efficiencies. A third experiment was conducted with irrigation every 3 days and with four different N application frequencies: every 3, 6, 12, or 24 days using four fertilizer concentrations but resulting in similar total N amounts every 24 days. There were no differences in growth, gas exchange, or water use efficiency. Given the fact that all treatments received adequate and equal amounts of water and fertilizer, fertigation frequency had only small effects on plant growth, although very high frequency fertigation decreased N uptake efficiency.

Oleocellosis or oil spotting on the peel of citrus fruit is a common post-harvest injury caused by improper handling. Mechanical injury allows phytotoxic oil to leak out of oil glands and cause injury to surrounding flavedo cells, resulting in oleocellosis. Mechanical harvesting (MH) of ‘Valencia’ sweet orange is conducted in late spring, when the next season's fruitlets are in their early stages of development. There is a concern that mechanical injury from harvesting machines can cause oleocellosis and fruit drop of young, green ‘Valencia’ sweet orange fruitlets, especially late in the harvest season when fruitlets are relatively large. We evaluated the effects of winter drought stress and subsequent late-season MH with a canopy shaker on oleocellosis of ‘Valencia’ sweet orange fruitlets. In April, mature fruit size, juice content, total soluble solids, and acidity were unaffected by previous winter drought stress treatments. Mechanical harvesting removed ≈90% to 95% of mature fruit and 20% to 50% of fruitlets depending on previous drought stress treatments and harvesting date. Beginning 1 week after the late harvest (13 June), attached fruitlets were tagged and visually evaluated approximately every other month to determine oleocellosis injury until the late-season harvest 12 months later. Only 12% of the fruitlets had oleocellosis on more than 30% of their surface area. Up to 75% of the fruitlets from the previously drought-stressed trees had less than 10% of their surface area injured after MH and 11% of these fruitlets dropped before harvest. Nonetheless, there was no significant increase in fruit drop with increased surface area injured nor was juice quality affected at harvest. Overall, fruit surface oleocellosis decreased and healed as fruit expanded, but surface blemishes did not completely disappear. Thus, fruitlet oleocellosis in late-season mechanically harvested trees was cosmetic and did not increase fruit drop nor alter internal fruit quality.

We determined if winter drought stress could delay flowering and fruit development of immature ‘Valencia’ sweet oranges to avoid young fruit loss during late-season mechanical harvesting. Beginning in December over three consecutive seasons (2007–2009), Tyvek® water-resistive barrier material was used as a rain shield groundcover under 13- to 15-year-old trees. There were three treatments: 1) drought = no irrigation and covered soil; 2) rain only = no irrigation, no cover; and 3) normal irrigation with rain and no cover. Covers were removed in February or March and normal irrigation and fertilization were resumed. The drought stress did not affect fruit yield, size, percentage juice, or juice quality of the current crop harvested in May and June relative to continuously irrigated trees. Drought stress delayed flowering by 2 to 4 weeks so that the immature fruit for next season's crop were smaller than on continuously irrigated trees during June but fruit growth caught up by September. During mechanical harvesting, previously drought-stressed trees lost fewer young fruit than continuously irrigated trees. Thus, winter drought stress effectively delayed flowering and avoided young fruit loss during late-season mechanical harvesting without negative impacts on yield or fruit quality of ‘Valencia’ orange trees.

Fruit bagging is an acceptable cultural practice for organic production that provides a physical barrier to protect fruit. It can reduce pest and pathogen injury for a variety of fruit crops, but quality attributes have been inconsistent for peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] and other bagged fruit. A 2-year experiment on a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic-certified peach orchard in central Florida was conducted to analyze the effects of a commercially available paper bag designed for fruit protection and cardinal quadrant (north, south, east, and west sides) of the tree canopy on low-chill peach ‘TropicBeauty’ fruit quality. Protective bags appeared to delay fruit maturity. Flesh firmness and chlorophyll concentration of bagged fruit were 31% and 27% greater than unbagged fruit, respectively. Bagged fruit were protected as demonstrated with a reduction in mechanical injury by 95%, fruit fly injury by 450%, and scab-like lesions by 810%. Bagging reduced fruit brown rot (Monilinia fructicola) at harvest and 7 days after harvest; unbagged fruit were 2 and 3.5 times more likely to have rot at harvest and 7 days after harvest, respectively. Fruit bags did not affect yield, fruit size, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, peel lightness, peel hue angle, or flesh color. Overall, canopy cardinal quadrant location had minimal effect on fruit quality or fruit injury. These results demonstrate that bagging peach fruit protects against various pests and diseases but has minimal effects on fruit quality. Broad adoption of this technology is highly dependent on available labor, market demands, and profitability but may be suitable for producers using direct-to-consumer market channels.