Work

Rootstock and crop load affect maturity and quality of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples under Washington State growing conditions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The apple cultivar ‘Honeycrisp’ is difficult to grow in semiarid environments, such as the apple growing area of Washington State, where horticultural practices need to be carefully managed to obtain optimal fruit quality. Rootstocks from the Geneva® series have become popular throughout the USA and in apple-growing regions worldwide, but knowledge about their performance (e.g., mineral uptake, impact on fruit quality, photosynthetic efficiency, etc.) under the Washington State growing conditions is still limited. This research was designed to assess fruit maturity and quality of ‘Honeycrisp’ grafted on five rootstocks and three crop load levels. ‘Cameron Select® Honeycrisp’ trees grafted on rootstocks ‘B.9’, ‘M.9-T337,’ ‘G.935’, ‘G.41’ and ‘G.11’ were selected in 2019-2020 in a commercial orchard in Quincy, WA, and hand thinned to the target crop loads of 3, 5 and 7 fruit/cm2 trunk cross-sectional area. At commercial maturity, the crop from all trees was harvested, sized, and assessed for bitter pit incidence. A subsample of fruit was set aside to conduct quality analyses one month after regular air storage. Across rootstocks, yield increased with increasing crop load, and fruit size was optimal (~ 200-220 g) with crop loads 5 and 7 fruits/cm2. Maturity and quality of apples from the crop load levels tested in this study confirmed results from previous trials on ‘Honeycrisp’. Rootstocks affected fruit maturity and quality characteristics. ‘B.9’ produced more mature and better colored apples, with lower firmness and titratable acidity. When thinned to 3 fruit/cm2, ‘G.11’ had the highest bitter pit incidence among rootstocks over the two years of the trial.

Source: Scientia Horticulturae

DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114068

Authors: Claudia Baldassi, Stefan Roeder, Sara Serra, Stefano Musacchi

Institution: Washington State University

Language: English

Topic: Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,000