The summer season is approaching in our country, which is marked by strong business activity for some elements of Chilean fruit growing: in some areas and species, a good fruit finish is being worked on, in others, the harvest is beginning, and in some, it is being processed and exported to the demanding markets.
And in this frenetic race to produce the best quality and condition fruit possible, producers are exposed to a series of problems: high yields, but with poor travel to distant destinations, high quality fruit, but returns reduced by a harvest cost due to the heterogeneity of the fruit's maturity, which requires a greater number of passes.
With this in mind, Stoller developed a product focused on fruit finishing that has been very successful and an excellent tool to address these axes simultaneously: Stoller Color.
Combined with a product that has been on the market for a longer period (Harvest More 5-5-45®), this strategy achieves two major improvements that are key to the economic return of the fruit: it concentrates and promotes the ripening and coloring of the fruit, allowing for a reduction in the number of harvesting passes with a very homogeneous product of great quality and condition. We suggest adding the Harvest More 5-5-45® product to maintain shoot growth, supporting the process of translocation of assimilates to the fruit that generates Stoller Color. In certain species, such as cherries, the generation of new vegetative material for the coming season is essential.
In both cherries and grapes, technically what we are looking for is to start with the applications before the colour break (pinta), since it is at this precise moment when the colour taking process has already been triggered and the window of intervention to harvest is small (45 days from setting to harvest). Taking this into account, we have proposed starting with the applications when the fruit begins to turn from green to straw colour (yellow).
DOSAGE CHART
With this management, we have not only improved the color, but we have also achieved better uniformity within the plot, achieving an increase of between 20-25% more fruit in the first harvest compared to traditional orchard management. As additional benefits, we can reduce costs due to fewer harvest passes, less mechanical damage to the plant and greater efficiency in the harvest.
The visual results of our trials can be seen in Figure 1, where an advance and concentration in the ripening of the fruit can be seen.
FIGURE 1
Together with these parameters, this strategy has achieved:
- Increase and advance brix degrees
- Increase dry matter
- Concentrate the ripening of the fruit
- Concentrate the harvest and achieve a lower number of passes.
Application times and doses:
Cherry trees
| Application Moment | Dose (L or Kg/100 L Water) |
| Advanced Paint | Stoller Color® 500 mL + Harvest More 5-5-45® 500 g |
| 7 days later | Stoller Color® 500 mL + Harvest More 5-5-45® 500 g |
Figure 1. Comparison of control treatment and Stoller treatment (Stoller Color + Harvest More 5-5-45) as of November 7.
Figure 2. Comparison of control treatment and Stoller treatment (Stoller Color + Harvest More 5-5-45) as of November 17.
