Flower Removal of Organic Blackcurrant to Increase Bush Growth and Yield During Establishment
D. W. Hobson, A. Hammermeister, K. Pruski and D. Lynch
Abstract
Many fruit crops are thinned to increase crop yields. Removing flowers of establishing small-fruit plants can also increase growth of plants which encourages earlier establishment. Fruits are a major sink for establishing plants and removing this sink could divert resources to other organs to encourage growth and the following year‘s yield. The first harvest of small fruit is typically too small to warrant harvesting, so plants commit resources to fruits where growth may be compromised.
Flowers were completely removed from second-year blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum L.) to test the effects on shoot growth and yield at two sites on Prince Edward Island. Each site had three replicates with three plants per plot in a randomized block design.
Timing of organic fertility amendments in spring-only, summer-only or split summer/spring had no significant interaction with deflowering treatments. Plants at one site were larger and deflowering caused increased yields by 20% but growth did not increase. At the other site, yield did not increase from deflowering, but growth significantly increased by 29 % the first year and by 61 % in the second year. Deflowering was done here by hand, but a mechanical method to remove flowers is required to make this technique cost-effective.
Source
. Saskatoon, SK. 16-19 July 2012.
Author Locations and Affiliations
(1) Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, Truro, Nova Scotia
(2) Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia
* Corresponding author, E-mail hobsond@nsac.ca
Posted June 2013