Abstract
In Florida, carambola has two harvest periods, July through September (summer crop) and November through February (winter crop). Knowledge of the location within the canopy of the highest quality fruit may improve the efficacy of spot picking. The effect of position within the canopy on fruit yield and quality was determined for five, ten-year-old 'Arkin' carambola trees at the Tropical Research and Education Center. The canopy of each tree was divided into three horizontal layers (i.e., lower, middle, and upper) and four quadrants (i.e., north, south, east, and west). Mature fruit were harvested from 4 August to 26 September 2003 (summer crop) and 2 December 2003 to 20 January 2004 (winter crop). Fruit number, fruit weight and length, and total soluble solids (Brix) were determined at each harvest date. Tree yields were estimated from the average weight per fruit and the total number of fruit per tree. In summer, the highest fruit Brix was generally observed in the south quadrant and in the middle and upper canopy layers. There was no significant difference in fruit Brix among layers in winter. Overall, fruit from the summer harvest weighed less than fruit from the winter harvest. Fruit length varied with canopy location in summer but not winter. The number of fruit was generally highest in the middle layer followed by the upper and lower layers, respectively.
