Pollen application by mechanical dusting in English Apple Orchards

SummaryApple pollen from cvs Miller’s Seedling or Reine des Reinettes, diluted with pine pollen or with Polyvinylchloride granules, was applied with an experimental pollen duster to Cox’s Orange Pippin trees in 1971, 1972 and 1973, at rates varying from 40 to 800 g ha-1 of pollen. In 1971, when weather conditions at flowering time were good, mechanical application of pollen increased fruit set in orchards with a good cropping history, but failed to do so in orchards with a poor cropping history, presumably because factors other than pollination were limiting fruit set. In 1972 and 1973, when the weather at flowering time was cold and wet, pollen dusting did not result in significant increases in fruit set.