Investigation of flower and fruit set in some citrus varieties in east of Mazandaran climate

To investigate flowering, fruitlet and fruit set in Thomson navel orange and Satsuma mandarin cv. Miyagawa and Sugiyama in climatic conditions of eastern Mazandaran, an experiment was performed by combined analysis in randomized complete block design in three different orchards and in three consecutive years with five replications. Number of flowers, fruitlets and fruits were recorded and later fruitlet and fruit set percent were calculated in comparison to flower number. The lowest flower, fruitlet and fruit number and the highest fruitlet and fruit set percent were obtained in the third year. In contrast, orchard 3, had the lowest flower, fruitlet and fruit number as well as fruitlet and fruit set percent. Miyagawa produced maximum fruitlet and fruit number but Sugiyama had the highest fruitlet and fruit set percent. Although, Thompson navel orange had the highest number of flower, but the number and the percentage of fruitlet and fruit set decreased dramatically compared to the two other varieties. In general, it could be concluded that flower and fruit set in different varieties had a similar trends and climatic conditions and management systems might have great effect on them.