EFFECT OF GROWTH REGULATORS ON 'ANNA' APPLE FLOWERING

The apple 'Anna' cultivar has been introduced recently in some Brazilian regions, where the winter season is mild, as a very promising crop. At the present time very little is known about agricultural requirements for this cultivar in Brazil. With the purpose of getting information about parthenocarpic fruit set, one experiment was conducted in Piracicaba, state of Sao Paulo, located on 23° south latitude and altitude of 550 meters.

In an one-year-old 'Anna' apple orchard, on 'EM-2' rootstock, drip irrigated, were established the following treatments: 1) Control; 2) Promalin 25 ppm + BNOA 5 ppm; 3) Promalin 250 ppm + BNOA 50 ppm; 4) Promalin 250 ppm and, 5) GA₃ 200 ppm + BA 300 ppm + BNOA 50 ppm. The treatments were applied in two distinct periods: in the beginning and at full flowering, in a randomized block design with four replicates.

By statistical analysis it was shown that there was no difference between the two treatment periods. The global analysis showed that both treatments 3 and 4, with bigger fruit set (32.5 and 31.5 fruits, respectively) were different from treatment 5 and control (9.5 and 11.5 fruits, respectively). The parthenocarpic fruits showed an elongated form and ring shape near the apical region.