Between March and April the ripening stage of the medlar takes place, a crop that is produced in Spain mainly in the Alicante region of Callosa d’en Sarrià, and in other areas of Málaga, Granada and Murcia.

During this physiological stage important physico-chemical changes take place such as the increase of soluble sugars and decrease in acidity, the loss of firmness, the degradation of chlorophyll and the formation of the carotenoids responsible for the coloring of the fruit. The final result of this transformation is a fruit with optimum color, flavor, texture and aroma to be consumed.

In the Mediterranean region, the fruit of the medlar grows exponentially from March to the end of April, weeks after its setting. At the time of color change and ripening of the fruit, the concentration of sugars also increases sharply.

The fruit set of this fruit is quite low, but frequently the fruits that remain in the tree do not reach a commercially acceptable size at maturity. The purple spot that affects the skin of the medlar and that usually appears during the maturation stage, as a consequence of a water imbalance in the plant; Along with the difficulty of obtaining good-sized fruits, these are the two problems that most affect the cultivation of medlar in Spain.

For this reason, a balanced nutrition of the crop together with the usual practices that are made, both in fruit trees and citrus, as the chemical thinning of flowers, the scratching of branches to improve the availability of carbohydrates and the application of auxins, are of vital importance to achieve an increase in the size of the fruit.

In this sense, from Cultifort we recommend the application of FERKOLOR in combination with BVC 2021. This synergistic combination will help to improve the fruiting, obtaining fruits of better quality and caliber.

In the following table we present the applications that we recommend from Cultifort, for the ripening stage of the medlar:

In this article we focus on FERKOLOR that applied in the maturation will favor the obtaining of better quality of the fruits, with more sugar, better coloration and greater firmness.

FERKOLOR is a neutral and stable liquid fertilizer, especially for the ripening of fruits, in which nitrogen, potassium, calcium and boron are combined.

Nitrogen is the element with the greatest influence on growth and production.

Potassium is especially important in the maturation of the fruit, by improving the assimilation of carbon, increasing the sugar content and reducing starch.

Calcium plays an important role in the maturation and storage of the fruits, so pre-harvest calcium applications help maintain skin firmness, thus preventing the appearance of the purple spot.

Boron facilitates the transport of sugars and calcium in the plant.

In short, the use of FERKOLOR during the ripening of the fruits translates into:

  • An increase in the content of sugars
  • Better skin quality and fruit consistency
  • Increased resistance to aging
  • A more vivid coloring of the fruits
  • An increase in crop yield