Prohexadione calcium reduces vegetative growth and increases fruit set of ‘Smith’ pear trees, in Southern Brazil

ABSTRACT Prohexadione calcium (P-Ca) has been reported to effectively control shoot growth in several pear cultivars, but with a few reports about its efficiency under the climatic conditions of southern Brazil. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate vegetative growth, production, and fruit quality of ‘Smith’ pear trees in response to the use of different rates of P-Ca in the climatic conditions of southern Brazil. The experiment was conducted during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons, in a 6-year-old ‘Smith’ pear orchard, trained to a central-leader system, with spaci...