RESPONSE OF FRUIT TREES TO PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZATION

Soil and plant factors affecting the P nutrition of fruit trees are reviewed prior to a discussion of early research which often reported fruit trees to be unresponsive to P fertilization.
More recent research, especially on apple, is described in which growth responses of young and mature trees have been measured.
Improved P nutrition has recently been achieved by fertigation, planting hole P application and foliar sprays and has been associated with early flower initiation, increased initial yield, improved early growth on replant disease sites and reduced incidence of low temperature breakdown of fruit in England.
Critical soil, leaf and fruit P concentrations are suggested from experiments where a P response has been achieved.

International Symposium on Diagnosis of Nutritional Status of Deciduous Fruit Orchards

G.H. Neilsen, E.J. Hogue, J. Yorston

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.274.43