Figure 1.

ALA reduces pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) fruit set. (A) Effects of ALA at different concentrations on pear fruit set. Exogenous ALA at 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg/L were sprayed evenly to the tagged branches, respectively, at 75% bloom. Fruit set for each treatment was recorded 6 weeks later to evaluate the appropriate concentration of exogenous ALA. (B) Timing effect of ALA on pear fruit set. At the 25 (B₁), 50 (B₂), or 75% (B₃) bloom, exogenous ALA at 0 and 100 mg/L were sprayed evenly to the tagged branches, respectively. Fruit set for each treatment was recorded 6 weeks later to determine the optimum time for ALA application. Values are the means of 15 measurements ± SE from three independent experiments. Different small letters in (A) and ^* in (B) represent significant difference between treatments (P < 0.05).