Thinning time during stage I and fruit spacing influences fruit size of ‘Contender’ peach

Early peach thinning during stage I was done at 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 days after full bloom (DAFB). At each thinning time, trees were hand-thinned to achieve different crop loads by spacing flowers or fruits 10, 15, or 25 cm along the shoot on whole tree canopies. In 2001 and 2002, fruit weight decreased quadratically with increasing time to hand-thin and increased linearly with increasing spacing. In both years, fruit diameter decreased linearly with increasing time to thin and increased linearly with increased fruit spacing. In both years, number of fruits harvested and yield per tree decreased linearly with increased spacing. Hand-thinning at 0 or 10 DAFB resulted in fewer fruit and lower yield; therefore, thinning at 20 DAFB was better. The effect of time of thinning on soluble solids was not consistent. In both years spacing (i.e., crop load) did not affect soluble solids.