SEMINAR

Jim Flore, Professor Department of Horticulture

Michigan State University

Using applied plant physiology to solve

horticultural problems in the tree fruit industry
The focus of our program for the last 40 years has been to use an understanding of the
environment and how it relates to physiological and physical principles to improve the
sustainable production of high quality fruit. Today Id like to share with you three approaches we
used to solve these problems using knowledge of applied plant physiology.
Rain Cracking of Sweet Cherries. The "driving force" for cherry cracking is the differential in
osmotic potential between pure rainwater on the fruit surface and the sugar-infused fruit flesh,
The key to minimizing the effect of rain is to minimize the driving force by making rainwater
less pure and thus less likely to be "pulled" into the fruit.
Mechanical harvest of stem on sweet cherries. The brine sweet cherry industry pays a premium
for stem-on fruit for maraschino production. The inherent challenge is that two abscission zones
(AZ) are present, with a natural shift in activity at the branch-pedicel AZ during initial fruit
development, to activity at the pedicel-fruit AZ during Stage III fruit ripening. The key was
correct timing of mechanical harvesting so that the upper part of the stem was torn from the spur
eliminating the abscission zone.
Mist-cooling to delay bloom, and old idea using new technology. This study re-examines the
application of water to delay spring crop development by using a solid set canopy delivery
system (SSCD). The SSCD system delayed bloom by 7-11 days in sweet cherry and apple with
no adverse affects. The importance of knowing when endo-dormancy begins and ends has
important implications and the need for a morphological or molecular marker indicating to
determine the transition between endo-dormancy and eco-dormancy will be discussed.

February 5, 3:30 pm HORT 117

Reception at 3:10 pm HORT 117
If you are interested in meeting with the speaker, please contact Jennifer
Deiser at 41301 or jdeiser@purdue.edu

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture