Work

Improved Performance of Bearing ‘Delicious’ Apple Trees with Nitrogen and Phosphate Fertilization in a Low-phosphorus Soil

Year: 1986

Type: article

Abstract: Bearing 15-year-old ‘Oregon Spur’, ‘Redspur’, and ‘Wellspur Delicious’/seedling apple ( Malus domestica Borkh.) trees in a low-P (2 to 4 ppm) soil were treated over 3 years with different forms and rates of N and N + P fertilizers to overcome a severe condition pf low vigor and low yields. Fruit size and leaf N were greater on trees receiving all forms of N fertilizer than on the untreated controls. Levels of leaf P were up to 2 times greater on NH 4 H 2 P0 4 [mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP)] treated trees than on the controls or N-only [(NH 4 ) 2 S0 4 , NH 4 NO 3 , Ca(NO 3 ) 2 or urea] treated trees. In most instances, the higher rates of MAP (applied in 1983 and 1984) resulted in greater shoot extension and leaf weight than the controls and most of the N-only treated trees. Yield (3-year mean) was greater on ‘Oregon Spur’ and ‘Redspur’ cultivars treated with the moderate rate of MAP than in the controls or in most of the N-only treated trees.

Source: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science

DOI: 10.21273/jashs.111.5.665

Author: J. Thomas Raese

Institutions: Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Tree Fruit Research Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,500