Can Nutrient Sprays Improve Apple Fruit Color?
By Tim Smith, WSU Extension, 400 Washington St., Wenatchee WA. 98801 Link to Tree Fruit Home Page After the passing of Alar, a product that helped maintain fruit quality on the tree while you waited for red color to develop, there have been a series of products that have tried to take its place. 1. The home garden “wonder-fertilizer” product that was sprayed on with warm (not cool!) water. This came & went fairly quickly, despite colorful advertisements in industry magazines. It turned out that the original work showing a color boost compared two neighboring orchards. The treated one was organic, and had low N levels, the untreated one was relatively vigorous, with higher N. The treated orchard had redder fruit, which was attributed to the use of the product. Some still cling to this stuff, hoping for effect. No harm, except with initial product cost. 2. Copper sprays. Some still use these, though no researcher has been able to duplicate the results obtained in split-block orchard tria
