THE EFFECT OF FOLIAR FERTILIZATION WITH FOLIFAG AND POLIMET ON CERTAIN APPLE CULTIVARS

In the period from 1992 to 1997 the effects of foliar fertilization were studied on various apple cultivars in two experiments at the Fruit Growing Research and Production Station Bistrita. In the first experiment the influence of two liquid foliar products, Folifag and Polimet, was investigated in an intensive orchard of disease-resistant varieties (‘Florina’ and ‘Auriu de Bistrita’). Foliar fertilization influenced positively shoot growth and fruit yield. Yield was increased by 15-35 % through improved fruit set and reduction of physiological fruit drop. In the second experiment the effects of foliar fertilization on the productivity of trees with latent virus infections was studied. The research was carried out on the cultivars Golden Delicious, Goldspur and Starkrimson grafted on the rootstocks MM106 and M4. Folifag 0.6% applied at petal drop reduced to some extent the negative effects of the latent virus infections.