Writing about cherry nutrition this month was prompted by a project undertaken in Tasmania: Optimizing nutrient management in cherries*.
The project is aimed at better understanding the fertiliser requirements of Australian cherry orchards and ultimately, developing nitrogen budgets to help growers make decisions about orchard nutrition.
When examining this subject it is important to recognize early scientific work within Australia and overseas.
In the book Cherries (edited by Webster and Looney) an article by Hansen and Proebsting cites Table 1.
Variables that affect nutrition
Many variables exist that influence tree nutrition and it is important to recognize some of these, including: water uptake, climatic conditions, soil type, and in particular, rootstocks.
I recall being informed by scientist, Dr. Doris Blaesing that the cherry rootstock Colt was not as good at transferring nutrients as other rootstocks#, in particular N, P and K.
A private project using leaf and fruitlet analysis by ServeAg examined the application of calcium nitrate at shuck fall.
The subsequent analysis proved that the bulk of calcium was absorbed by the fruit and the bulk of the nitrogen went into the leaves.
Muirs and ServeAg further developed fruitlet analysis with cherries, setting standards and ascertaining if the crop was short of any particular nutrient while there was still time in the growing season for a correction (B. Scott).
Another variable is the number of calendar days between full bloom and harvest of cherries. There is a huge difference between cherry growing regions in Australia. In some warmer areas it can be 50 to 60 days and in cooler regions it can be 70 or more.
This demonstrates why timing is so important, especially during periods of rapid growth. If the nutrients are not present at the time they are needed, then the tree and fruit may miss the opportunity for nutrient uptake.
References
Below are a couple more references–examples of the science behind cherry nutrition.
So it is with great interest that we await the next generation of results to see where they lead us on this subject.
Mineral element content in cherry roots in relation to their vertical and horizontal distribution in an orchard soil (M. Baghdadi, A. Sadowski)
This project considered the difference in nutrients in the roots comparing sprayed strips with tree rows under grass. Some results showed higher N under grass but higher Zn under sprayed strips.
Nitrogen uptake efficiency and partitioning in sweet cherry is influenced by time of application (A.N. Azarenko, A. Chozinski, L. Brutcher)
This project was based on an earlier project in Australia on carbohydrate partitioning by Prof. A. Azarenko.
See this article in Tree Fruit Feb 2018
