Effect of plant bioregulators and evaporative cooling on fruit set, yield and quality of Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cv. Red Beaut

A field experiment was carried out on 12-yr-old trees of plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cv. Red Beaut raised on wild apricot seedling rootstocks at 6 x 6 m spacing in the Department of Fruit Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, during the years 2005–07. Experimental trees had been inter-planted with Santa Rosa plum for cross pollination. The treatments viz. GA_3- at 100 and 200 ppm, ethrel at 100 and 200 ppm, CCC (chlormequat) at 1000 and 2000 ppm and PP₃₃₃ (paclobutrazol) at 1000 and 2000 ppm in mid-October or mid-November and tree misting from bud swell stage until bloom in control were applied in a simple randomized block design with three replications. On the basic of study, it is concluded that mid- October application of GA₃ at 200 ppm can improve yield and quality of Red Beaut plum under the mid-hills conditions of Himachal Pradesh.