Horticultural & Physiological Studies

Environmental stress research

• Heat stress/non-infectious bud failure in almond
• Water stress/irrigation research with almond, peach, clingstone peach, apricot, cherry, and others
  • Water stress and crop load effects on fruit fresh and dry weights in peach (Prunus persica)
  • Crop load and water stress effects on daily stem growth in peach (Prunus persica)
  • Water stress and crop load effects on yield and fruit quality of Elegant Lady Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batch]
• Rain cracking with cherries

Cultural practices/tree physiology research

• Peach, apricot, and cherry pruning and systems trials
  • Control of Shoot Growth in ‘French’ Prune by Apogee in 2003
  • Tree Crop Physiology Technical Reports for Cherry: 2003 to current season
• Peach and apricot thinning/fruit growth studies
  • Labor/Cost Saving Technologies: Refining chemical thinning procedures for cling peach in 2003; testing mechanical thinning in 2003
• Peach growth habit and crop load
  • Preformation in vegetative buds of Prunus persica: factors influencing number of leaf primordia in overwintering buds
  • Effect of fruit crop load on peach root growth
  • Current-year and subsequent-year effects of crop-load management and epicormic-shoot removal on distribution of long, short, and epicormic shoot growth in Prunus perisca
  • Influence of branch autonomy on fruit, scaffold, trunk, and root growth during stage III of peach fruit development
• Prune and peach nitrogen requirements
  • Effectiveness of fall versus spring soil fertilization of field-grown peach trees
  • Estimating seasonal nitrogen dynamics in peach trees in response to nitrogen availability
• Alternate bearing behavior of pistachio and pecan

Pest management

• Development of Killing Stations for Control of Walnut Husk Fly