Effect of Some Plant Growth Retardants on Vegetative Growth, Spurs and Fruiting of 'Le - Conte' Pear Trees

This study was carried out during two successive seasons 2012 and 2013 on 5-years old 'Le Conte' pear trees grown under two types of soil. Selected trees were sprayed by some plant growth retardants such as, Paclobutrazol (Cultar) at 200 & 300 ppm conc., Mepiquat chloride at 150 & 250ppm, Succinic acid at 150 & 300 ppm and control. Treatments were sprayed with the specified solutions till run off at three times: before flowering, after fruit set stage and two months after fruit set. That was at early March, mid April and mid May. Herein, fruit quality and vegetative growth parameters were determined at the time of harvest. Results showed that significantly increased fruit set and improved fruit quality compared with the control. It should be noted that the best results were recorded in sandy soil compared with the clay soil. The highest concentration in all treatments improved fruit set, yield and fruit quality.