ISHS Acta Horticulturae 594: International Symposium on Foliar Nutrition of Perennial Fruit Plants
EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION AND FERTIGATION WITH SOME NUTRIENTS ON FRUIT MINERAL CONTENT OF YOUNG "GOLDEN DELICIOUS" APPLE TREES |
| Authors: | S. Tojnko, T. Ternar, Z. Cmelik |
| Keywords: | Malus domestica, mineral nutrition, storage quality, Slovenia, Croatia |
| Abstract:
Investigations of the effect of foliar application of some nutrients and fertigation in comparison with broadcast nitrogen fertilization on mineral fruit composition of young apple ‘Golden Delicious’, grafted on M9 rootstock was conducted in years 2000-2001. Two orchard experiments were established, one with 2-year and the other with 3-year old trees, grown at a spacing of 3.2 x 0.7 m and trained to super spindle. In year 2000 fruits were hand thinned on 2-year and 3-year trees to 20 and 50 fruits/tree respectively. In 2001 fruits were not thinned because of low fruit set. The results showed no significant beneficial effect of applied treatments on fruit mineral content in both experiments. Ratios of N/Ca, K/Ca and (Mg + K)/Ca in fruits indicated good storage quality as related to normal crop load. On the contrary, when treatments were applied on trees with inadequate crop load, no beneficial effect occurred and fruits showed low storage life. This result illustrates the important balance between vegetative growth and fruit load that occurs during tree establishment. | |
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