Perfecting your orchard’s nutrient balance

October 2015 | Dean Rainham, AgFirst | Australian Fruitgrower article

This article focuses on balancing orchard nutrition rather than simply increasing fertiliser inputs. Dean Rainham explains that productive apple blocks require the right relationship between nutrients, tree vigour, crop load and fruit-quality objectives, and that imbalances can be as damaging as outright deficiencies.

The article encourages regular testing and interpretation of results over time so growers can distinguish a true deficiency from an uptake problem or nutrient interaction. Soil, leaf and fruit information should be combined with observations of crop performance to build a nutrient program that is specific to each block.

For orchard managers, the key message is to avoid blanket fertiliser programs. Nutrient balance is best managed by measuring what the tree and soil are doing, making targeted adjustments and then checking whether those changes have produced the desired response.