Russet Control and Improvement in Fruit Quality of Apple cv. “Red Velox” With Application of GA ₄₊₇ + BA in Wet Temperate Zone of Himachal Pradesh

Russeting is one of the most important horticultural problemsin apple production worldwide. Fruit cultivars differ generally in their susceptibility to russet. Apple variety “Red Velox” lately introduced in Himachal Pradesh is very prone to russeting. Hence, an experiment was conducted during 2021–2022 at Regional Horticultural Research and Training Station, Mashobra, Shimla, to investigate the effect of different concentrations and timings of gibberellins A 4 and A 7 (GA 4 + 7 ) + 6‐benzyladenine (BA) application on russet control and quality of “Red Velox” apple. Minimum russet formation on skin surface of apple (1.21%) was observed when GA 4 + 7 + BA at 10 ppm were sprayed at full bloom and petal fall stage. Physical parameters, viz., fruit weight (193.00g), fruit size in terms of length and breadth (66.88 mm × 73.20 mm) and fruit volume (385.33 cc), fruit firmness (9.10 kg cm −3 ), and total sugar (10.13%), were recorded maximum with three sprays of GA 4 + 7 + BA at 10 ppm at petal fall and later at 10‐day intervals. Fruit shape index (0.96) was recorded maximum in plants treated with GA 4 + 7 + BA at 25 ppm at petal fall and full bloom stage. However, titratable acidity (0.42%) was maximum with two sprays of GA 4 + 7 + BA at 1 ppm at petal fall and later at 10‐day interval. Ascorbic acid content (6.33 mg/100g) was maximum in plants treated with three sprays of GA 4 + 7 + BA at 2.5 ppm at petal fall and later at 10‐day interval. Thus, a targeted plant growth regulators regime robustly suppresses russet and elevates overall fruit quality in this russet‐susceptible cultivar “Red Velox.”