Thinning before Bloom Affects Fruit Size and Yield of Hardy Kiwifruit

Abstract

Five-year-old hardy kiwifruit [Actinidia arguta (Sieb. et Zucc.) Miq. `Ananasnaya'] vines in a commercial vineyard were subjected to thinning before bloom in 1999. Flowers were thinned at four severities: 0% (control), 15%, 30%, and 50% flower bud removal (2-5 June). The average yield of vines thinned 50% was significantly less than that of control vines. However, marketable yield from vines thinned 15%, 30% and 50% was not significantly different from control vines. Thinning, regardless of severity, increased average fruit volume and king fruit volume by 18% and 27%, respectively, compared to control vines. King fruit were more affected by thinning than the two adjacent lateral fruit in the cluster. Thinning before bloom had no effect on percent soluble solids, seed number or total seed weight per fruit.