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Before developing orchard management strategies, it is crucial to conduct architectural analysis at the shoot level for the specific type of fruit to be grown. The objective of this study was to analyze flowering patterns in 1-year-old long shoots of three apple cultivars ('Amasya,' 'Braeburn,' and 'Granny Smith') with different bearing behaviors. This analysis aimed to gain a better understanding of their growth dynamics and reproductive activities. The shoot was divided into three consecutive zones (proximal, median, and distal) based on node number. When comparing the number of floral and vegetative buds in the three zones along the shoot, less contrast was observed between alternate-bearing ('Amasya') and regular-bearing cultivars ('Braeburn' and 'Granny Smith'). However, a notable difference in floral bud quality variables was evident in shoot zones between biennial-bearing and regular-bearing cultivars. In 'Braeburn' and 'Granny Smith' with a regular bearing habit, floral bud quality variables remained stable along the shoot. In contrast, 'Amasya' shoots exhibited a gradual increase in floral bud quality from the proximal zone towards the distal zone. 'Amasya' had the fewest spur leaves per inflorescence, both in the proximal zone (0.89) and the median zone (2.87) of one-year-old long shoots, whereas they were nearly equal for ‘Braeburn’ (5.67 and 6.09, respectively) and ‘Granny Smith’ (5.55 and 6.59, respectively). In the proximal zone, 'Amasya' had a spur leaf size of 0.48, while 'Braeburn' and 'Granny Smith' exhibited similar spur leaf sizes of 3.39 and 3.59, respectively. This study underscores the significance of floral bud quality, especially the properties of spur leaves along the shoot, in ensuring optimal and consistent productivity. Finally, with the exception of internode length, morphometric traits did not significantly differ between cultivars when considering the entire shoot. However, these differences became apparent when examining successive zones along the shoot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to determine the effect of SA (salicylic acid) application on the yield, yield components, and fibre quality characteristics of cotton at different growth stages (squaring, flowering and squaring + flowering). The experiment was carried out at Siirt University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crop's experimental area during the 2022 cotton growing season. The experimental design was a split-plot design with four replications. The main plot and sub-plots consisted of SA applications [Control (0.0 mM), squaring (1.0 mM), flowering (1.0 mM), squaring (0.5 mM) + flowering (0.5 mM)] and varieties (MAY 455, Stoneville 468, Fiona), respectively. SA application and variety interactions were significant in terms of the first boll opening days and the number of nodes. There were significant differences between varieties, except for the number of monopodial branches, number of bolls, chlorophyll content value, normalised difference vegetation index value, and micronaire and fibre strength. The MAY 455 cotton variety had the highest values in terms of seed cotton yield (2993.1 kg ha-1) plant height (62.14 cm), boll weight (6.51 g), seed cotton weight per boll (4.90 g), number of seeds per boll (29.46), number of nodes to first fruiting branch (8.65), fibre yield (1361.0 kg ha-1) and 100-seed weight (8.82 g), while the Fiona variety came to the fore in terms of number of days to first boll opening (118.0 d), number of sympodial branches (7.56), number of nodes per plant (17.79), ginning percentage (46.45%), fibre length (828.52 mm) and fibre reflectance (82.18 Rd). There was a slight increase in yield (223.8 kg ha-1) compared to the control. SA application may show different effects on each cotton variety, and the positive effect may increase by applying SA at different intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]