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o Air and soil temperatures were reported to be:
o The average minimum air temperature dropped to 21.5°C (70.8°F)
o The average air temperature declined to 26.2°C (79.1°F)
o The average soil temperature also decreased to 26.6°C (79.8°F)
o Solar radiation varied from low to moderate.
o Very low risk of causing sunburnt and corky fruit.
o The relative humidity decreased slightly to 87.4%.
o Large fruit (4,5 and 6 count) rose to 51.3% and 5 count of our harvest, but size 5 decreased to 20%.
o The harvest age of this week’s fruit continued to decrease. Once again it showed a predominance of fruit of 20 WAF that amounted to 71.7% of the total. The balance was harvested as follows: 22.1% at 21 WAP and 6.2% at 19 WAF.
o Crownless fruit volume increased to 9.3% of the total packed.
o Despite the decrease in harvest age that occurred this week, the sugar content of our fruit remained quite high. It is important to mention that during sampling, only 1% of the fruit was recorded below 13.5 Brix and the volume with a Brix level above 15.5 remained quite high: 40.4% of the samples. The variability of Brix readings remained high on most of our farms.
o The volume of fruit with psi less than 2.7 decreased to 4.8% of the sample. The minimum was 2.6 psi; the average reached 3.4 psi and the maximum was 4.2 psi.
o All fruit quality characteristics were reported according to our standards.
o Expect supply to be limited for the remainder of the year. Most national retailers will be on promotional volume for the holidays.
o Some vessel delays in the NE due to congested ports caused by melon season from Guatemala.
o Weather pattern for the week was typical for the season, characterized by more rain, cloudy days, and cooler nights. Conditions that could be trigger for the first events of naturally differentiated fruit (NDF).