
Farming conditions are constantly changing:
September 7, 2022
By Groenvlei is opleiding koning.
October 21, 2022Best practices for fruit size, quality & shelf life of fruits: Although Mother Nature is always the determining factor, there are several other practices that must be addressed in order to help improve fruit size, quality and shelf life.
Climate plays an important role in fruit quality and can adversely influence fruit quality where optimal nutritional status prevails or where the nutritional status is not up to standard, producing good quality fruit.
The influence on the quality of fruit produced can be observed in leaf analysis when there are low levels of macro elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S), or when the N:Ca-ratio becomes very large. However, the change in the quality of the fruit within the optimal nutritional status is small and sometimes absent. If the nutritional status moves from optimal to excess again, the change becomes visible again. It is therefore extremely important to ensure that the optimal nutritional status of the trees is maintained.
The influence of the nutritional status of the trees on the quality of fruit is very clear when the guidelines below are not pursued.
• Include the use of organic matter.
• Focus on lime, gypsum and fertilisers containing Ca such as ReAct.
• Stimulate root development and microbial activity with Bio Kelp X5 and Fish Hydrolysate.
• Focus on practices before cell proliferation.
• Prevent abnormal fruit size during cell enlargement.
• Prevent large nitrogen applications.
• Promote even growth during the growing season.
• Reduce application of nitrogen 4-5 weeks before harvest.
• Start earlier with Potassium applications.
• Manage irrigation scheduling under stress conditions.
• Include foliar sprays with potassium and calcium products.
These guidelines will help ensure optimal fruit size, quality and shelf life of the fruit, – The rest is in the hands of Mother Nature.
Watch this video to learn more about our fertilisers: