INTERACTION K-B IN AVOCADO (PERSEA AMERICANA MILL.) CULTURE

The avocado, as a crop, is rapidly spreading on the south coast of Spain and a planting surface of 8.000 ha. is expected to be reached in 1990 (Calatrava, 1983). The mineral nutrition of this culture is well known with respect to macronutrients but this is not so in the field of micronutients.

We are now working in this last field.
According to Embleton and Jones (1964), Fe and Zn are essential nutrients, in this culture, in order to obtain good yields, and according to Plessis et al. (1978), Zn and B are the most important microelements for this culture.

We have studied (Jaime et al. 1977, 1985, 1986), the mineral composition of avocado leaves, sampled in the south of Spain over 10 years, and found that the K level is usually low, in all commercial varieties grown in the area.
So, it is to be expected that the recommended quantities of K added to the soils, in order to increase those low levels, could affect the absorption of other nutrients.

The K-B interaction, for example, has been described in other cultures: Wallace and Bear (1949) with alfalfa, Yamaguchi et al. (1958) with celery, Tanaka (1967) with peas, etc., have found the negative effect on B level in leaves when K concentration increases in the soil.

This paper is a part of the programme "Micro-elements in avocado culture" which is been carried out on our Experimental Station by means of several pot trials and other trials in experimental avocado orchards, with 15 year old trees.
This paper refers to one of those pot trials, its aim is to understand the effect of the application of B and K in the culture medium on the absorption of several nutrients and their influence on some biometric parameters.

Tropical Fruits, XXIII I.H.C.

S. Jaime, M.J. Subires, J.T. Soria, A. Aguilar

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.296.9