Bush Fruits
Blueberries
and Cranberries (Vaccinium
spp.)
French:
Airelles & Canneberges; Spanish: Arandanos; Italian: Mirtillos &
Mortellas; German: Blaubeeren & Preiselbeeren
Optimum soil pH for blueberries 4.5 - 5.0 and for cranberries even a
little lower. Annual nutrient uptake is relatively small. Unselected
wild varieties require lower fertility level than improved varieties.
Indicative contents of nutrient elements in the leaf dry matter are
shown in the table below:
Plant
analysis data - Macronutrients
|
Variety
|
%
of leaf dry matter
|
|
N
|
P
|
K
|
Mg
|
High-bush (V. corymbosum)
|
2
|
0.18
|
0.5
|
0.2
|
Low-bush (V. angustifolium)
|
1.9
|
0.16
|
0.5
|
0.2
|
Rabbit-eye
|
1.5
|
0.1
|
0.15
|
0.1
|
The leaf nutrient content depends on the position on the plant,
on dilution during rapid growth in spring, on the soil fertility level
and on the available soil volume per plant. The N content declines
markedly later in the season, e.g. in V. angustifolium from 2.01 % on 24
June to 1.26 % by 26 August or, with added N (75 kg/ha N on 5 May and 40
kg/ha N on 15 July), from 2.49 % on 24 June to 1.63 % on 26 August.
Fertilizer recommendations:
Mulching is commonly practised in bush fruit cultivation to ensure
nutrient recycling and outgrowth potential for superficial rootlets and
to suppress weed competition, though in regions with severe winters
intensive mulching may delay winter hardening of plant tissue. Because
decaying organic materials incorporate free N and P, some addition of
fertilizer is desirable. This input will return in available form in due
course. The following rates of application are recommended for high-bush
blueberries in Eastern Canada, based on a spacing of 3 m x 1.2 m or 2
690 bushes/ha:
Age in years since set in field
|
Recommended
rate of 10-10-10-2 fertilizer
|
|
g/plant
|
kg/ha
|
Up to 3
|
25
|
75
|
4 - 5
|
40
|
115
|
6 - 7
|
85
|
230
|
8 - 9
|
125
|
345
|
10 and over
|
170
|
455
|
Source: Craig, 1980
|
Raspberry
(Rubus
spp.)
and related species and crosses (loganberry, boysenberry, etc.)
French:
Framboise; Spanish: Frambuesa; Italian: Lampone; German: Himbeere
Optimum pH 6 -7. Nutrient uptake somewhat greater than that of
blueberries.
Fertilizer recommendations (Netherlands):
50 t/ha farmyard manure at planting, followed by, for raspberries, in
spring about 100 kg/ha N and 300 kg/ha K2O and from flowering to fruit-set
about 60 - 70 kg/ha N in split dressings, and, for blackberries, in
spring about 60 kg/ha N, 50 kg/ha P2O5 and 90 kg/ha K2O (best in form of
a 12-10-18 fertilizer) and from flowering to fruit-set around 50 kg/ha N
in split dressings.
Currants
(Ribes
spp.)
French:
Groseille; Spanish: Grosella; Italian: Ribes; German: Johannisbeere
Optimum pH 6 - 7. Nutrient uptake greater than that of raspberries.
Indicative contents of nutrient elements in the leaf dry matter,
varying with position on the plant and other factors (see Blueberries):
3 % N, 0.3 % P, 1.5 - 3.0 % K, 0.3 % Mg.
Fertilizer recommendations (Netherlands):
50 t/ha farmyard manure at planting, followed in spring by 300 kg/ha K2O
and from flowering to fruit-set 60 - 70 kg/ha N in split dressings.
Further
reading
BOSE,
T.K.: Fruits of India. Naya
Prokash, Calcutta, India (1985)
ECK,
P.; CHILDERS, N.F. (eds.): Blueberry culture. Rutgers Univ. Press, Quinn
and Boden Co. Inc., N.J., USA (1966)
KRONENBERG,
H.G.: Twelve years of research on small fruit, 1953 - 1965 (Dutch,
English Summary). Inst. of Hort. Plantbreeding Meded. 205, Wageningen,
The Netherlands (1966)
TANDON,
H.L.S.: Fertilizer management in plantation crops, a guide book.
Fertiliser Development and Consultation Organisation, New Delhi, India
(1988)
Author:
P.D.J. van der Vorm, Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition,
Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands
|