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• Yield and fruit quality response to foliar application of biostimulants in an apple orchard

  17-23.

  Adam Csihon

  Marianna Sipos

  Imre Holb

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  397

  Nutrient supply plays an important role in fruit production technology. Among the methods of nutrient management, the application of foliar fertilization has become an essential tool to harmonize the vegetative and generative performance of fruit trees. This study was conducted to determine the effect of four foliar fertilizers (Bistep, brown juice, Trichoderma harzianum, Clonostachys rosea) on yield and fruit quality in an apple orchard with the cultivar ‘Pinova’, at the University of Debrecen in Hungary. Trees were trained to a slender spindle canopy with a spacing of 4 × 1 m. Treatments were applied five times during different phenological phases in 2021 and 2022. Based on our results, biostimulants had a positive effect on fruit yield and fruit quality, but extreme weather events also influenced the data. In 2021, the effect of the treatments on yield data could not be observed (10.1–13.5 kg/tree; 0.16–0.24 kg/cm²). However, in 2022, plants sprayed with Bistep, T. harzianum, and C. rosea reached 28.7–31.2 kg/tree (0.33–0.46 kg/cm²), while control trees produced only 19.8 kg/tree (0.20 kg/cm²). Fruit size development improved with an increase of 2–6 mm over the two years. Among the treatments, Bistep was able to enhance fruit surface coloration to a greater extent in 2021, as red skin color reached 44% for this foliar fertilizer, while control trees presented only 27%.