Leaf Area and Fruiting Efficiency of Large and Small Fruited Cranberry Cultivars

Abstract

Fruit size in cranberry is highly variable between cultivars. Small fruited cultivars produce more berries per hectare than large fruited cultivars but yield per hectare is ofter similar. The relationship between fruit size, yield and leaf area per fruiting upright was examined. Large fruited cultivars produced more fruit per leaf area on fruiting uprights than small fruited cultivars. This suggests that large fruited cultivars are more efficient at producing dry weight than small fruited cultivars. Fruit number per fruiting upright was similar regardless of fruit size but small fruited cultivars had more fruiting uprights per unit area than did large fruited cultivars. In this study, fruit size was important in determining the number of flowering uprights, which is an important yield component.