Increase Fruit Size, Density and Weight With A BioFlora® Program
Horticultural Consultant, David Bell, conducted a trial on nashi pear and apple crops in Shepparton, Victoria. Crops were treated with the BioFlora program of Go Isolates®, Fulvex® and BioFlora® 4-9-4 which was designed with the goal of improving fruit yield through our organic and sustainable agricultural products. Our Bioflora program did successfully increase fruit size, density and weight. As fruit is graded, sized and sold by weight, denser fruit results in a greater return per piece of fruit — which is good news for Aussie growers.
Overview Of Trial Results
The BioFlora trial for nashi pears and apples included three treatments: foliar & ground, ground and untreated control. The basic overview of the trial results is as follows:
Nashi Pears
- Fruit size increase 5%
- Fruit weight increase 12%
- Reduction in two spotted mite 80%
Apples
- Fruit size increase 6%
- Fruit weight increase 17.5%
Nashi Pears – Shepparton Trial Details
The treated sections benefited from foliar and ground treatment which improved the fruit size and fruit weight when compared with untreated control.
Detailed Nashi Pear Results
| TREATMENT | FRUIT SIZE MM | FRUIT WEIGHT KG – 20 NASHI FRUIT PER TREE | THE MEAN FRUIT PRESSURE KGS |
| Foliar & Ground | 74.64a | 4.73a | 6.31a |
| Ground | 73.02b | 4.71a | 6.27a |
| Untreated Control | 70.96c | 4.21b | 6.51a |
Means followed by the same letter within a column do not differ significantly (p=0.05)
Two Spotted Mite
Two spotted mite damage was visible in the untreated control rows of nashi pears during summer (late January), with observations showing equivalent mite numbers between treatments. There was less mite burn in the BioFlora treated rows than in the untreated rows, even though the BioFlora products don’t have a direct impact on two spotted mite populations.
We concluded that, because the treated nashi pear trees were healthier, their tolerance for two spotted mite was higher – which resulted in less two spotted mite damage. An assessment on 24 January confirmed this visual observation.
Apples – Shepparton Trial Details
There were no observed differences between the three treatments in the apples throughout the growing season. However, results show significant growth in fruit size, increasing the amount of fruit in the marketable range, compared with the untreated control.
Fruit weight also improved with both ground only and foliar and ground application. We noted that there was no significant differences in fruit pressures between the three treatments.
Detailed Apple Results
| TREATMENT | FRUIT SIZE MM | FRUIT WEIGHT KG – 20 APPLES PER TREE | THE MEAN FRUIT PRESSURE KGS |
| Foliar & Ground | 77.35a | 3.84b | 8.29a |
| Ground | 78.73a | 4.12a | 8.07a |
| Untreated Control | 74.38b | 3.50c | 8.11a |
Means followed by the same letter within a column do not differ significantly (p=0.05)
BioFlora® Products – Increasing Fruit Size, Density & Weight
If you’d like to give your fruit the competitive edge, naturally, talk to our Brisbane-based BioFlora team about developing a BioFlora program for your crops. Phone Wes Abel and the team today on 0413 839 878 and let us help you increase fruit size, density and weight with our organic and sustainable agricultural products.