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Nutrient Requirements of ‘Gala’ Apple Trees
Lailiang Cheng Department of Horticulture
Apple trees on dwarfing rootstocks in high density orchards: crop earlier, have higher yield and smaller root system
§ When and how much nitrogen and other nutrients are required for high density ‘Gala’ trees to produce high yield and good size fruit?
3g 10g 20g 40g N
Experimental Setup
• Sixth-leaf Gala/M.26 were grown in sand culture at 3.5 by 11 feet spacing (1125 trees/acre).
• Each tree received 30 g N in Hoagland’s solution during the entire growing season.
• Cropload was adjusted to 8.2 fruit/cm2 TCA at 10 mm king fruit (~104 fruit/tree).
• Four trees were destructively sampled for analysis at each of 7 key developmental stages.
Leaf and fruit nutrient status
Tissue N P K Ca Mg
Leaf 2.00 0.18 1.61 1.10 0.39
Fruit 0.25 0.06 0.80 0.05 0.04
Macronutrients (%)
Micronutrients (ppm) Tissue B Zn Cu Mn Fe
Leaf 27.3 27.3 8.3 143.8 83.5
Fruit 21.8 3.5 3.8 7.8 25.3
Days after budbreak
0 20 40 60 80 100120140160180
Dry
wei
ght (
kg/tr
ee)
01234567
Whole tree
Fruitshoots & leaves
Cropload: 8.2 frt/cm2TCA
Fruit#/tree: 104
Yield:18.8Kg/tree
Leaf area/fruit: 550 cm2/frt
Fruit size: 181 g/fruit
Fruit firmness: 16.8 lbs
Soluble solids: 14.5%
Dry matter accumulation of 6th-leaf Gala/M.26
Net dry matter gain and its partitioning (Net DW gain: 4.3 kg)
Fruit 72.2%
Shoots and leaves 17.3%
Rest 10.5%
Tota
l tre
e P
(g)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Days after budbreak0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l tre
e K
(g)
0
10
20
30
40
50
Tota
l tre
e C
a (g
)
05101520253035
Tota
l tre
e M
g (g
)
0
2
4
6
8
Tota
l tre
e N
(g)
05
10152025303540
Days after budbreak0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l S (g
)
0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.5
Macronutrient accumulation patterns of whole tree
Days after budbreak
0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l tre
e Zn
(mg)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Tota
l tre
e B
(mg)
0
30
60
90
120
150
Tota
l tre
e Fe
(mg)
0
100
200
300
400
Days after budbreak
0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l Mn
(mg)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Micronutrient accumulation patterns of whole tree
Tota
l P (g
)
0
1
2
3
4
Days after budbreak0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l K (g
)
05
10152025303540
Tota
l Ca
(g)
0
3
6
9
12
15
Tota
l Mg
(g)
0
1
2
3
4
5
Days after budbreak0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l S (g
)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Tota
l N (g
)
0
5
10
15
20
25New growth
Fruitshoots and leaves
Macronutrient accumulation patterns in new growth
Days after budbreak
0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l Zn
(mg)
0
10
20
30
40
50
Tota
l Fe
(mg)
0
30
60
90
120
150
Days after budbreak0 20 40 60 80 100120140160
Tota
l Mn
(mg)
0
30
60
90
120
150
Tota
l B (m
g)
0
20
40
60
80
100New growth
FruitShoots & leaves
Micronutrient accumulation patterns in new growth
Gala/M.26 nutrient requirements (52.5 t/ha or 1110 bushels/acre)
N P K Ca Mg
Net gain 50.0 8.2 89.4 35.4 10.9
New growth 50.7 8.0 86.5 27.5 9.9
Macronutrients (lbs/acre)
Micronutrients (lbs/acre)
B Zn Cu Mn Fe
Net gain 0.23 0.15 0.12 0.46 0.37
New growth 0.22 0.09 0.05 0.34 0.32
Tree nutrient requirements in relation to yield
Fruit yield (b/a) N P K Ca Mg S
500 22.1 3.7 40.2 15.9 4.9 1.8
750 33.2 5.5 60.2 23.9 7.3 2.7
1000 44.3 7.4 80.3 31.8 9.8 3.6
1250 55.4 9.2 100.4 39.8 12.2 4.5
1500 66.4 11.1 120.5 47.7 14.7 5.4
1750 77.5 12.9 140.6 55.7 17.1 6.3
2000 88.6 14.8 160.6 63.6 19.6 7.2
Macronutrients (lbs/acre)
‘Gala’ fruit nutrient requirements (52.5 t/ha or 1110 bushels/acre)
Study N P K Ca Mg
Palmer (2006) 18.7 4.6 57.8 3.0 2.7
Cheng (2009) 19.1 4.9 61.6 3.9 3.1
Macronutrients (lbs/acre)
Micronutrients (lbs/acre)
Study B Zn Cu Mn Fe
Palmer (2006) 0.12 0.02 0.07 0.02 0.07
Cheng (2009) 0.17 0.03 0.03 0.06 0.19
‘Gala’ nutrient removal by fruit harvest in relation to yield
Yield (b/a) N P K Ca Mg
500 8.6 2.2 27.7 1.8 1.4
1000 17.2 4.4 55.3 3.5 2.8
1500 25.7 6.6 83.0 5.3 4.2
2000 34.3 8.8 110.7 7.0 5.6
Macronutrients (lbs/acre)
Yield (bushels/acre)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Frui
t N re
mov
al(lb
s/ac
re)
0
10
20
30
40
50
Yield (bushels/acre)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Frui
t K re
mov
al(lb
s/ac
re)
020406080
100120140
Yield (bushels/acre)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Frui
t B re
mov
al(g
/acr
e)
020406080
100120140160
r2 = 0.81 r2 = 0.89
r2 = 0.57
Yield (bushels/acre)0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Frui
t P re
mov
al(lb
s/ac
re)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
r2 = 0.88
Nutrient removal by fruit harvest in relation to yield (‘Gala’ commercial orchards in New York)
Summary § Nutrient requirements at 1110 bu/acre: N: 50, P: 8.5, K:
90, Ca: 36, Mg: 11, B: 0.23, Zn: 0.15, Cu: 0.12, Mn: 0.46, and Fe: 0.37 lbs/acre; Tree nutrient requirements are yield-dependent.
§ Highest N demand occurs from bloom to the end of shoot growth, followed by a lower but steady demand; many other nutrients show a relatively constant demand from bloom to harvest.
§ Differential requirements by fruit and leaves – Timing: bloom to end of shoot growth for leaves; end of shoot
growth to fruit harvest for fruit; – Amount: fruit needs more P, K, B, and Fe than leaves.
For More Info § Cheng, L., Xia, G., Lakso, A. N. and M. Goffinet. 2007 How
does nitrogen supply affect ‘Gala’ fruit size? New York Fruit Quarterly 15(3), 3-5.
§ Cheng L and R Raba 2009. New York Fruit Quarterly 17(4): 5-10.
§ Cheng, L. 2010. Nitrogen nutrition and fertilization of apple trees. Compact Fruit Tree 43(1): 24-27.
§ Cheng, L. and H. Wang. 2011. Nitrogen fertilization has differential effects on red color development and flesh starch breakdown of ‘Gala’ apple. New York Fruit Quarterly 19 (3): 11-15.
§ Cheng, L., Hoying, S. and M. Miranda Sazo. 2014. Nutrient removal by fruit harvest and maintenance applications of nutrients in New York apple orchards. New York Fruit Quarterly 22(2): 15-19.
Acknowledgments
§ Rich Raba, Andrea Mason, Louise Gray & Scott Henning for technical assistance
§ Dr. David Zimerman (Cornell Pomology Ph.D. 1954), New York Apple Research and Development Program & Hatch Funds
§ Van Well Nursery for providing the trees
