JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION, 24(1), 191–202 (2001) CHEMICAL TREATMENTS IN “GOLDEN DELICIOUS SPUR” FRUITS IN RELATION TO RUSSETING AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS E. S ´ anchez, 1,* J. M. Soto, 2 J. X. Uvalle, 2 A. P. Hern´ andez, 2 J. M. Ruiz, 1 and L. Romero 1 1 Departamento de Biolog´ ıa Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18071, Espa˜ na 2 Facultad de Ciencias Agrotecnol´ ogicas, Universidad Aut´ onoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, 31150, Mexico ABSTRACT The impact of chemical products on mineral nutritional sta- tus and russeting in ‘Golden Delicious Spur’ was studied. In addi- tion, we sought to define the nutrients responsible for russeting in order to avoid imbalances in their concentrations in the fruit. Lime- sulphur (lime and sulphur, T1), ProVide (gibberellic acid GA 4+7 , T2), calcium nitrate (8.5% N and 11.5% Ca, T3), Microthiol Special (micronized wettable sulphur at 80%, T4), Packhard (8% Ca, 6% carboxylic acid, 0.5%B, T5), and Dithane (ethylene-bis dithiocar- bamate of manganese 62%, Mn 16% and Zn 2%, T6) were applied to apple trees at the onset of flowering, at petal drop, and at the onset of fruit development. The ProVide and Microthiol treatments reduced the damaged fruit area and the percentage of damaged fruits in comparison to control (trees without application, T0). The * Address correspondence to Esteban Sanchez. E-mail: Iromero@ugr.es 191 Copyright C  2001 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com