The effects of hand and chemical thinning on fruit size and quality of Septik apricot

Mut, a town in Icel on the south side of the Taurus mountains, 367 m above sea level, is one of the most important fresh fruit production centres in Turkey. Annual apricot production is about 30,000 tons. Septik is the main variety and its fruit ripens between 13 and 17 May, depending upon the year. This variety is important For its earliness, but the fruits are generally small and prices low. In this study, hand thinning and chemical thinning were used to increase fruit weight. In this treatment, 30, 50, 70 % of hand thinning and 1000 and 2000 ppm of carbaryl were applied 4 weeks after full bloom. Fruit size and fruit quality were examined determined at harvest and the fruit growth curve was plotled.