Fruit Bites for August 2-4 ... Accede Update

BL: Welcome back to another “Fruit Bites” brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent’s Allison Walston. And this week Allison, we are talking about how Accede (ah-seed) apple thinner did this season.

AW: Valent USA launched our new apple thinning PGR called Accede. We had a large demo program in apples and targeted a later timing, around 15 to 18mm apple fruit diameter.

BL: What varieties did you look at & how did they respond?

AW: Mostly Gala, with some Honeycrisp, SugarBee and Fuji. And varieties respond differently. In Galas & Fujis, Accede dropped about 10 to 20% additional fruit. Honeycrisp averages about 10% thinning at medium rate. SugarBee was a new varity, we cautiously went at a lower rate and got about 17% thinning. The additional thinning at the later timing helps reduce hand thinning costs. Future research includes other application timings. We are looking forward to another thinning season with Accede in 2023.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I’m Bob Larson.