Effects of different particular film applications on some morphological, physiological and fruit qualitycharacteristic on almond trees

Almond is one of the nuts fruit species cultivated worldwide. Türkiye has significantly increased its almond production area and quantity, with Adıyaman province being prominent in the country's almond production. The recent development of fruit farming culture in the province has brought about some challenges, notably the temperature and drought stresses affecting plant physiology during the summer months. High temperatures are among the factors significantly limiting plant health, development, and productivity. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of particle film coatings used in two commercial almond orchards located in the Merkez district and Şambayat Town of Adıyaman province during the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 against temperature and drought stresses. Four coatings were applied in two different doses in the study. Phenological observations, physiological, chemical, and pomological measurements were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the treatments in both years. As a result, it was found that the treatments generally did not have a negative effect on the phenological, physiological, chemical, and pomological properties of almond trees. The treatments reduced leaf temperature between 2.7 °C and 7.9 °C. The most successful treatments in reducing leaf temperature were kaolin, micronized calcium calcite (CaCO3), and titanium dioxide (TiO2) treatments. Reflective TiO2 stood out in terms of stomatal conductance, particularly increasing stomatal conductance steadily by 0.25% TiO2 in both years at the Şambayat location. The treatments did not have any effect on leaf photosynthesis, proline, and malondialdehyde (MDA) values. In the first year of the study, the 5% kaolin treatment increased kernel percentage by 2.13% in the Bozhüyük location where the effects of drought were more pronounced. In the Şambayat location, however, the TiO2 treatment in the second year increased kernel percentage by 1.01-1.13%.