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Abstract
An effective growth regulator treatment for inducing fruit set and parthenocarpic development in the highbush blueberry would restore a number of once productive varieties to profitable commercial use. The decline in productiveness of varieties such as Coville, Earliblue and Jersey has paralleled the decline in native pollinating insects such as the bumblebee (4). The use of commercial honeybees has not solved the fruit set problem in many cases because the problem varieties appear to be less attractive to the domesticated bees than are the fruitful varieties (4).
Abstract
Gibberellic acid (GA) at 0, 5, 50, 200 and 500 ppm was applied to the highbush blueberry, var. ‘Coville,’ for 3 consecutive fruiting periods in the greenhouse. Application to the flower was a prerequisite for parthenocarpic fruit set and development. No significant differences were found in the number of shoots formed, shoot length, and stem or trunk diameter. GA caused a significant reduction in the number of flower buds formed for the next crop.
Abstract
Gibberellic acid (GA) at 0, 50, 100, 250 and 500 ppm was applied to the highbush blueberry var. ‘Coville’ at bloom for 2 consecutive seasons in the field. Percentage fruit set was increased by all GA treatments in 1966. In 1967 yields were increased by the 100, 500 and 500 ppm caged treatments. GA-treated plants produced smaller berries that required a longer maturation period but were still of fresh market quality. The smallest and latest maturing fruit were seedless and were produced from caged plants receiving GA. No differences in mold incidence and percentage weight loss in storage were apparent between treated fruit and the control. Only fruit from caged plants receiving 500 ppm GA had refractive index values less than those of the control berries. The GA treatments did not reduce the number of flower buds formed in 1966 or 1967.
Abstract
Shoot growth of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. cv. Bluecrop) in vitro was compared on various modifications of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing Linsmaier and Skoog (LS) vitamins, Zimmerman’s Z-2 and Z-3 media, a modified Knop’s medium, and McCown and Lloyd’s woody plant medium (WPM). The WPM was found to produce best growth and highest number of shoots of 10 mm or longer. Shoots from Zimmerman’s half-strength medium (Z-3) yielded the highest percentage of rooting in sifted sphagnum peat.
Abstract
The effectiveness of malathion as a color enhancement agent for cranberry fruit was tested in a co-operative experiment involving 7 commercial cranberry growing regions of North America. Sprays of malathion 80% EC at 21/2 lb. active ingredient/A applied either 2 or 3 weeks before harvest increased anthocyanin content of ‘McFarlin’, ‘Early Black’ and ‘Searles’ cranberries.