ISHS Acta Horticulturae 84: V Africa Symposium on Horticultural Crops
FLOWER AND FRUIT DEVELOPMENT OF SATSUMA MANDARINES (CITRUS UNSHIU MARCOVITCH) |
| Author: | H. Brammeier |
| Abstract:
The Satsuma mandarine complies with consumer demand for a refreshing and hygienically flawless fruit by merit of its sweet-sour taste, its lack of seeds, and its easy-to-peel skin. Its significance on the fresh fruit market has therefore increased steadily in the past years. A particular advantage for marketing of the Satsuma mandarine lies in its early ripening, which allows producers to bring their fruit about two months before oranges and clementines onto the market. Disadvantageous is that, when the fruit is internally ripe and most suitable for consumption, it still lacks "external" quality. The irregular colouration of the fruit and sometimes an unusually rough peel tend to make the Satsuma unattractive to the consumer. Moreover, the yields are not sufficiently reliable to satisfy the producer. A phase decisive for yield formation is fruit setting. Besides climatic conditions, sufficient nutrient supply is extremely important. The present investigations were based on the hypothesis that, as a result of a high supply of quick-acting nitrogen to the leaves, primarily leafy as opposed to leafless inflorescences attain a higher fruit set. In order to prove the tendency of leafy inflorescences to set more fruit, a yield analysis taking rootstock and urea and gibberelline treatments into consideration was carried out at the end of fruit development. | |
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