Impact of girdling, thinning and their combination on quality and maturity in Flordaprince peach

The influence of girdling, thinning and their combination on fruit quality and earliness in maturity in peach cv. Flordaprince was investigated on six years old uniform trees being grown on sandy loam soil planted at 6 m × 6 m. These plants were provided with uniform cultural practices. Thinning, girdling and their combination of both girdling and thinning performed at three stages, i.e. full bloom, 15 days after full bloom and 30 days after full bloom advanced fruit maturity by 4–14 days. Combination of girdling and thinning increased fruit weight and total sugars by 37.76, 24.58 and 24.58 percent. However, acidity decreased by 19.15 percent when performed at 15 days after full bloom. Different girdling treatments did not show any adverse effect on plant health and productivity as satisfactory healing of girdled ring took place in 28–34 days.