| This research was conducted to study the effects of chemical and hand thinning on fruit quality of 'Gerdi' apricot. In the first year, three weeks after full bloom (AFB) branches of mature trees were sprayed with naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 10, 20, and 40 mg L-1, naphthalene acetamide (NAD) at 20, 40, and 80 mg L-1, ethephon at 50, 100 and 200 mg L-1, or urea at 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6%. In next year, hand thinning was performed as a separate experiment and leaf to fruit ratio (LFR) was adjusted to 10:1, 20:1 or 30:1 at pit-hardening stage of fruit development. In both years, NAA at 40 mg L-1, NAD at 80 mg L-1 and all concentrations of ethephon significantly increased fruit drop. All concentrations of urea significantly increased fruit drop in 2006, but... |
