ISHS Acta Horticulturae 557: VII International Symposium on Orchard and Plantation Systems
HARVESTING LIGHT IN PERSIMMON AND KIWIFRUIT ORCHARDS WITH REFLECTIVE GROUND COVERS |
| Authors: | T.G. Thorp, A.B. Barnett, J.D. Toye |
| Keywords: | Diospyrus kaki, Actinidia deliciosa, fruit quality |
| Abstract:
Reflective ground covers can be used to help trees harvest light that either passes through the leaf canopy or that falls within the inter-row zone between trees. We have tested this technology in persimmon and kiwifruit orchards. Persimmons Two reflective ground covers (PE Foil and TyvekŠ) were placed on the ground beneath ‘Fuyu’ persimmon trees trained on a Y-Frame trellis, from flowering to fruit harvest (November to May). Numbers of fruit per m2 canopy were similar between treatments, however, fruit were larger (P<0.001) on the reflective ground cover treatments (321 g and 323 g for TyvekŠ and PE Foil, respectively) than on the control trees (276 g). Fruit low on the canopy were most affected. Use of reflective ground covers also advanced the date of harvest maturity (skin colour development) by up to 10 days for fruit in the lower canopy. Kiwifruit Reflective ground covers were placed beneath ‘Hayward’ kiwifruit vines trained on T-bars, from just before flowering to fruit harvest (October to May). In the first year, fruit were larger (P<0.001) on the treated vines than the control vines (89.4g and 82.6g, respectively). In the second year of using reflective ground covers on the same vines, flowering was increased (P<0.01) with 26.8 and 20.7 flowers per cane for the treated and control vines, respectively. This led to higher fruit yields (P<0.001) on the treated vines than the control vines (114kg to 87kg per vine, respectively). Despite this difference in fruit yields, average fruit size was similar on the treated and control vines (107g and 106g, respectively). | |
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