This orchard manual helps make sense of leaf tests and soil tests and adopts a whole-system approach to soil and crop management.
In fruit trees, the condition of the soil and the condition of the trees in an orchard together determine the uptake rate of nutrients, which could be very different from what is available in the soil. Therefore leaf tests are the most convenient and the most accurate guide in determining the nutritional status of fruit trees.
PART 1: Tree Health – Assessing the nutritional status of fruit trees
by way of leaf tests and more
The LINK – How roots, root growth and root health link tree health to soil health
PART 2: Soil health – Assessing the nutritional status of the soil by way of soil tests and much more
Over 220 pages of information, photos and illustrations
Because of the high yielding capacity of high-density plantings, more nutrients are removed with the fruit, especially nitrogen and potassium, compared with low-density trees.
In modern orchards therefore, the roots have only a small volume of soil, mostly surface soil, to explore and need to be ‘spoon-fed’ to sustain high production for many years. This means we need to look at leaf and soil tests from a different perspective.
What you will find in this manual
Leaf test
- Leaf test is like a blood test
- The principle of leaf testing
- Leaf test standards
- What and when to sample
- After sampling
- Nutrient elements & concentrations
- Test results
- Interpreting leaf tests
- Leaf: N, P, S, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, B
- Nutrient ratios
Tree health & fruit quality
- Stonefruit—tips to grow quality fruit
- Apple—fruit sampling, Ca, Crop load, Bitter pit, Leaf:Fruit ratio
- Apple—N, B, Mg, P, K, Zn, Mn
- Apple—Tree vigour and fruit quality
Tree Nutrition
- Nutrient replacement
Peparing shallow soils
- Soil test
- Grading (if needed)
- Apply amendments, rip, cultivate
- Ridge (hill-up/mound)
- Sow ryegrass or allow voluntary weeds & spray out before planting
Soil Health
- Roots & root growth—Effects of close planting, Regulated Deficit Irrigation, Growth regulators, Pruning, Root pruning,
- Measuring nutrients in soil available to trees
- Sample soil on vacant land & before replanting
- Apple replant disease (SARD)
- Soil sampling in low and high density plantings
- Mulch, compost improve soil health
- Adding lime
- Irrigation water quality and soil health
The living soil
- Earthworms
- Microorganisms, bacteria, fungi
- The Rhizosphere
Understanding soil test results
- Soil Color, Texture, Structure
- Soil organic matter—Importance, Nutrient supply, Stability
- Soil pH—Effects on nutrient availability, Buffering capacity
- Salinity: Electrical Conductivity, Cl, Na
- Soil structure, Slaking, Dispersion. CEC
- Soil aggregates
- Gypsum as a soil conditioner
- N—Fertiliser, Mobility, Application
- Al, P, K, S, Mg, Cu, Mn, B
- Zn—importance in calcium uptake
- Ca—uptake, availability
- Fe—Lime induced iron chlorosis