TRANSPORT OF MINERAL ELEMENTS FROM GRASSED ALLEYWAYS TO HERBICIDE STRIPS AS A RESULT OF GRASS MOWING

In autumn 1985 the experiment was established in order to test whether the displacement of grass mown in alleyways towards herbicide treated strips was the reason for horizontal differentiation of soil K content in a long-term K fertilizer trial which had been carried out in a sour cherry orchard.

During two successive seasons, after each pass of the MZ-3 mowing machine, the freshly mown grass was collected from alleyways and from herbicide strips separately, weighed, dried and analysed for macronutrient. content.

In 1986, during the fivefold mowing, 60% of the total grass mown was thrown by the machine onto the herbicide strips and in 1987 during the sixfold mowing, about 80% of grass mown in alleyways was displaced to the strips.
The total amount of potassium transported from alleyways to herbicide strips – calculated per 1 ha of a herbicide strip – was estimated on the average at 43 kg of K in 1986 and at 83 kg in 1987. The respective values for nitrogen transported to herbicide strips amounted to 54 kg of N in 1986 and to 145 kg in 1987, for P – 5 and 12 kg, for Mg – about 4 and 14 kg and for Ca – about 10 and 16 kg per ha respectively.

International Symposium on Diagnosis of Nutritional Status of Deciduous Fruit Orchards

E. Jadczuk

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.274.22