Do Living Mulches or Environmental Conditions Have a Greater Impact on the External Quality of the Apple Fruit ‘Chopin’ Cultivar?

Maria Licznar-Malanczuk and Urszula Barbara Baluszynska ()
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Maria Licznar-Malanczuk: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Live Sciences and Technology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzki 24a, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Urszula Barbara Baluszynska: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Live Sciences and Technology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzki 24a, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Research was carried out to assess the yield and quality of fruits from the new Polish apple tree ‘Chopin’—a ‘green peel’, scab-resistant cultivar under grass living mulch management. Blue fescue and red fescue were tested in experiment no. 1. In experiment no. 2, meadow grass and perennial ryegrass were used. Every species of grass was sown in two doses of 50 and 150 kg per ha. Herbicide fallow was introduced as a control in both experiments. Strongly variable temperatures and precipitations in the years of evaluation made it possible to estimate year—a function of variable environmental conditions—as an additional experimental factor. An unexpected effect of the presence of living mulch was its significant impact on the appearance of blush on the ‘green peel’ fruit. However, living mulches had little effect on weight and fruit size. Cool days during apple ripening enhanced the process of fruit skin red coloration. The effect of both agrotechnical and environmental factors on fruit quality was more visible in the case of less vigorous trees, which were more susceptible to experimental, stressful conditions. However, increasing the sowing dose of each grass seed did not influence red blushing, weight, or fruit size. An additional difficulty for the trees was the competition caused by the early germination of these living grass mulches, reinforced by the presence of Trifolium repens L.

Keywords: blushing; fruit size; cover crop; thermal conditions; water conditions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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