Effect of some organic fertilizers and amendments on the quality of maiden trees of two apple cultivars

摘要

Production of organic maiden trees is considered difficult due to the high needs of nutrients required to obtain trees of good horticultural quality. In the framework of the EU-funded research project ‘Development of innovative products and technologies for organic fruit production a specific work package is devoted to the development of methods of nursery production. Maiden trees of apple cultivars ‘Topaz’ and ‘Ariwa’ grafted on M26 rootstocks were produced with the use of a vegetal amino-acids(BF Amin), a consortium of mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promotion rhizobacteria (Micosat F12WP and Micosat FMS 200), and their quality was compared to plant grown with organic animal manure standard NPK or without fertilization. The application ofBF Amin resulted in the highest trunk thickness and tree height for both cultivars. The product induced also an increase of the branching of the maidens and of the length of lateral shoots. Micosat also positively influenced the branching of the maidensin comparison to control and NPK treatments, but to a lower extent with respect to BF Amin. The two new biofertilizers seem to provide the plants with an adequate nutrient supply and could be utilized successfully for the application in organic apple nurseries.