Maxcel, a plant regulator for the chemical thinning of apples, has been granted an emergency approval of 120 days in the UK.
The approval of Maxcel, which started on 12 April, has been seen in the industry as a “great help” for crop thinning and balancing crop load and size.
Mike Hutchinson of Hutchinsons said: “All apple varieties can suffer from irregularity of cropping to some degree or another, with some worse than others. Quite a few of the newer varieties, such as Gala, Jazz, Braeburn and Kanzi, have a tendency to be precocious and to over-crop and will benefit from the application of Maxcel.”
If a tree is left to over-crop, it has a detrimental effect on the present crop in terms of fruit size and quality, and on the next year’s crop as the tree tends to under-crop.
Maxcel selectively thins by using inter-fruitlet competition and, because it is used earlier than hand thinning, when the fruitlet is between eight and 12 mm in size, it optimises fruit size and picking quality.
Hutchinson added: “Hand thinning for misshapen or damaged fruits tends to be done later, after natural fruit drop has occurred.”
In terms of timing, Maxcel should be applied when the king fruitlet has a diameter of 10-12mm. Applications should be made at the start of the warming trend when maximum daily temperatures for the two to three days following application are expected to be at least 18°C. It should not be applied when temperatures are below 15°C. One application can be made per year.
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