USING PREHARVEST TEMPERATURES TO PREDICT SCALD DEVELOPMENT ON APPLES IN NEW ENGLAND AND NEW ZEALAND
Preharvest temperature (hrs. below 10°C) is a predictor of scald development on North American apples after long-term storage. In Mass., these variables are highly negatively correlated for both `Delicious' and `Cortland' apples. However, this predictor was not generally applicable for scald development on `Delicious' or `Granny Smith' apples in New Zealand. There, the relationship between temperature and scald varied greatly among districts for both cultivars, with scald resistance often occurring with far fewer hrs. below 10° than in Mass. Yet, in two cases when the temperature: scald relationship for `Granny Smith' was similar to that for `Cortland' and `Delicious' in Mass., temperature patterns during fruit ripening were similar to that in Mass. In all other cases, more moderate temperature changes occurred. These results suggest that the true base temperature for developing resistance to scald may be between 10° and 15°C, rather than 10°.