Understanding and utilizing Parthenocarpy for enhanced fruit set

Growers need all the help they can get in these challenging times. Ensuring maximum yield is a challenge for all growers due to poor, wet and cold conditions including lack of bees for pollination, etc. 

While it is often thought that the fruit is the final product of the plant's reproductive cycle, the reality is that the normal course of reproductive activity is to reproduce the plant itself. To do that, genetic material is combined through the process of pollination.

However, pollination results in the development of the SEED and not the fruit. The role of the fruit is to protect the seed and make sure the seed is distributed by animals that eat it. 

Pollination and fruit development are therefore not necessarily linked.

The concept of parthenocarpy, a word that literally means "virgin fruit" makes it possible to have fruit set and development without pollination.

Considerable research in this area concludes that fruit set is dependent on phytohormones and not directly dependent on pollination.

Phytohormones occur naturally in all plants and have several different classes. Those responsible for fruit set are the Auxins and Gibberellins.

In particular fruit set can be triggered by Gibberellic acid (GA3).

The benefit of the grower is that the fruit set can be dramatically improved with application and proper timing of GA3. Either in the presence of absence of pollen or pollinators.

This process of parthenocarpy, while resulting in fewer or no seeds, has no detrimental effects on the fruit and can be a valuable tool to maximize fruit set both in ideal an adverse pollination conditions.

A shortage of bees is holding back BC's thriving blueberry industry from its full potential, according to a new report from Vancity.

In a report commissioned by Vancity and written by professor Mark Winston* in 2016, the lack of bee population was examined in depth. "There are simply not enough honeybee colonies to accomplish the growth pollination needed for blueberries" said Watson. The report concluded that $10-20 million was being lost due to lack of adequate pollination in the blueberry market alone. 

Use of Grospurt can help in this regard by increasing fruit set due to parthencarpic development, thus reducing the dependence on bee pollination.

Applying Grospurt will not harm bees. Grospurt works in synergy with bees to ensure maximum crop yield.