Evaluation of Medjool Date Fruit Growth and Optimized Harvest Time

In order to study the effects of spathe coverage on date fruit of Medjool cultivar, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with four replications was conducted during 2014 in Date Palm Research Institute. Factors were: two levels of spathe coverage and four beginning harvest time as %25, %50 and %75 fruit ripening and harvest (in a once time) in %100 fruit ripening stage. The results showed that the highest rate of fruit per each palm cluster was 4.3 kg .The lowest fruit damage caused by pests and the highest date ferment were produced in coverage treatment, because of inadequate ventilation. The harvest date treatment had significant effect on the quality of date production. Harvesting after %25 ripening, with 4.5 kg (high quality), 0.58 and 0.54 kg fruit (less quality), produced the maximum and minimum rate of best and less date fruit quality respectively. As a result delayed harvest, significantly decreased date palm fruit production, as high air humidity and sensitivity occurred in this condition. There was no significant interaction effect between harvest times and coverage treatments. In other words, the results of the interaction were similar to simple effects. Finally, based on the results, date palm cluster coverage and harvest start at 25% ripening were recommended.