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Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield
Version 1
: Received: 2 May 2024 / Approved: 6 May 2024 / Online: 6 May 2024 (07:12:54 CEST)
How to cite:
Arrobas, M.; Raimundo, S.; Correia, C. M.; Rodrigues, M. Â. Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield. Preprints2024, 2024050245. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0245.v1
Arrobas, M.; Raimundo, S.; Correia, C. M.; Rodrigues, M. Â. Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield. Preprints 2024, 2024050245. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0245.v1
Arrobas, M.; Raimundo, S.; Correia, C. M.; Rodrigues, M. Â. Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield. Preprints2024, 2024050245. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0245.v1
APA Style
Arrobas, M., Raimundo, S., Correia, C. M., & Rodrigues, M. Â. (2024). Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (<em>Castanea sativa</em>) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0245.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Arrobas, M., Carlos Manuel Correia and Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues. 2024 "Omitting the Application of Nitrogen or Potassium Reduced the Growth of Young Chestnut (<em>Castanea sativa</em>) Trees, While a Lack of Boron Decreased Fruit Yield" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0245.v1
Abstract
The chestnut tree (Castanea sativa Mill.) is gaining importance in the mountainous regions of southern Europe due to the high value of its fruits. It is essential to establish effective cultivation protocols, considering that this species is still relatively understudied. In this study, we present the outcomes of the initial establishment of a chestnut orchard conducted through a nutrient omission trial for four years. The treatments included a fertilization plan with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and boron (NPKB), the control, and four other treatments corresponding to the omission of each nutrient (-NPKB, N-PKB, NP-KB, NPK-B). The -NPKB and NP-KB treatments showed significantly lower trunk circumferences and canopy volumes compared to the other treatments. The NPK-B treatment resulted in the lowest fruit production, with a total accumulated yield (2020-2022) of 0.56 kg tree–1, a value significantly lower than that of NPKB (1.12 kg tree–1) and N-PKB (1.19 kg tree–1). The assessment of nutrient concentrations in the leaves revealed plants with deficient levels of B and K in treatments that did not receive these nutrients. Conversely, N levels in the leaves in the -NPKB treatment fell within the sufficiency range (20 to 28 g kg–1). This suggests that the sufficiency range should be adjusted to higher values, given the treatment's effect on tree growth. It was also observed that the -NPKB treatment led to lower soil organic matter compared to the other treatments, likely due to reduced herbaceous vegetation development under the canopy, leading to decreased organic substrate deposition in the soil. The main findings of this study are that N and K were crucial elements for the optimal growth of chestnut trees, while B played a significant role in fruit production.
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
