ISHS Acta Horticulturae 505: VII International Symposium on Rubus and Ribes
THE EFFECT OF AUTUMN FERTIGATION ON BUD BREAK IN RASPBERRY: A PRELIMINARY STUDY |
| Authors: | J.M. White, H. Wainwright, C.R. Ireland |
| Abstract:
In the UK, protected raspberry crops often suffer from poor and uneven bud break. The effect of applying fertiliser in the autumn on bud break in the subsequent spring was investigated. A proprietary feed (14%N, 7%P, 14%K plus trace elements) was applied to one half of a commercial glasshouse during the autumn. The other half was left unfertilised. A higher proportion of buds on the fertilised canes had broken dormancy when measured on March 3rd, 1997. On May 2nd, the lateral lengths of the fertilised canes were found to be significantly longer in the fertilised canes than in the unfertilised canes. No significant differences were found between the number of flower buds per lateral on the fertilised and unfertilised canes. The 50% pick date of the raspberry crop from the unfertilised plot was 2 days earlier than the fertilised plot crop. However, there was very little difference in the final yield of each plot. The increase in the availability of growth promoting nutrients may have stimulated earlier bud break by outweighing the growth inhibiting effects of paradormancy which follows the winter endodormant period. This may also have encouraged a longer period of vegetative growth resulting in longer lateral lengths and delayed fruiting. However, this trial was not fully replicated and must therefore be repeated in order to confirm these findings. | |
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