For a cherry orchard to have a high productive potential, there are certain nutritional conditions related to the soil that must meet high standards for optimal tree development. These conditions are also reflected in the proper leaf state of the crop, which will in turn allow optimal development of the fruit and thus achieve an excellent product ideal for export.
Among the main nutrients that the species considers as good indicators from the foliar point of view are nitrogen (N), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), among other microelements of lesser importance.
From the above it is very important to establish adequate ranges with respect to the characteristics of the different rootstocks. For example, the close relationship and dependence of the Colt rootstock with a high demand for K, as well as the MaxMa series (and its related ones such as Mahaleb) for Mg and the Gisela® series (and its related ones such as P.cerasus) and its ongoing demand for Zn.
“Foliar standards must be recognized year after year. Every year in the post-harvest period, foliar analysis must be done in which this information is generated through nutritional analysis and one should consider it when making post-harvest foliar applications. Personally, I am not very much in agreement with making standard applications of some elements, because many times there is no justification for applying them. An exemplary case of this is the application of boron (B). Many programs consider a post-harvest application of B practically obligatory and in practice there are very few situations that really need it, considering that B is an element that must be applied to the extent that the plant requires it, since there is evidence of phytotoxicity with B as an example. Therefore, it is very important to understand that there are foliar nutritional standards for cherry trees that are being worked on even today in terms of rootstock and variety to further adjust these indicators.
It is very important that this post-harvest foliar analysis should be taken at a time or period when the nutrients are stable within the plant and that in terms of date for our conditions should be between December 20th and February 25th, that is the time when the nutritional content of the leaf is optimally evident, however in operational terms it should be taken early in the season, ideally the first or second week of January to obtain the result in a timely manner and have the last week of January until the third week of March for the applications.” Said Carlos Tapia, technical director of Avium.
Regarding soil fertility, the main thing is to look for indicators of sufficiency in order to develop a project prior to planting. This is the most important stage and in some cases the only possibility of establishing soil nutritional indicators during the life of the project.
Among the most important indicators to take into account prior to planting are the pH with an optimal action range between 5.8 and 7.2, the available phosphorus (P) content, the available K content (and its relation to exchangeable K); in addition to the relationships between cations and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) or sum of bases (SB) in which a balance must be achieved mainly between calcium (Ca), Mg and exchangeable K.
N plays a fundamental role in the different metabolic processes of the cherry tree and is part of the constitution of proteins and a large number of other compounds. It allows the development of shoots, roots, floral induction, ovule fertilization, fruit setting, fruit development and cherry quality. In addition, it is a constituent element of chlorophyll and therefore has an indirect action in the production of carbohydrates.
K, after N, is the most required by the plant and is important during the productive phase to obtain quality fruit. It is also important in various physiological functions such as photosynthesis, biosynthesis of proteins and carbohydrates, cell expansion, movement of stomatal cells and regulation of enzymatic activities.
P in the form of phosphate is part of different compounds in the cell such as sugars, phosphates of great importance for the processes of respiration and photosynthesis and phospholipids that form part of the membranes.
Ca, for its part, is involved in the formation of pectins and maintains the organic acids produced by plants at non-toxic levels. In addition, it promotes the lignification of shoots, thus increasing the resistance of these organs to low temperatures, particularly in winter, regulates the development of roots and allows for greater firmness of cherries.
“In relation to soil standards, it is extremely important to carry out and consider a relevant analysis prior to planting in order to objectively demonstrate the levels that the soil has in terms of nutrition and some of its components such as pH, organic matter (%) and electrical conductivity, etc., and always taking into account the optimum that is presented.
It is essential to be clear that the best time to set the indicators to optimal numbers is pre-planting, doing the pertinent analysis, recognizing each of the indicators and making the calculations that allow generating the doses of each of the nutrients such as P, K, Ca, Mg mainly and applying them to the soil by using amendments of these elements prior to planting. Once this is established and taken to the optimal values with respect to these indicators, one enters a phase of soil maintenance season after season considering the recovery of this soil by extracting each element by the harvested fruit. the expert added.
Bibliographic references.
– Miguel Ellena Dellinger-Inia Bulletin-Chapter 3: Nutritional requirements of the sweet cherry.
– Carlos Tapia-Personal communication.
– “Cherries, botany, production and uses”- Edited by: José Quero-García, Amy Lezonni, Joanna Pulawska and Gregory Lang.
