Is it possible to diagnose the nutritional status of peach trees by chemical analysis of their flowers?

摘要

Analysis of leaf nutrient status in fruit trees is generally carried out too late in the season to allow successful correction of many nutritional problems. The possibility of using the nutrient content of flowers as a diagnostic tool was investigated in 100 peach orchards from the main production areas of the Ebro basin in NE Spain. The average macroelement concentrations (DW basis) of dry peach flowers were found to be 2.95% N, 0.40% P, 1.64% K, 0.59% Ca and 0.22% Mg, and the microelement concentrations were 292.8 mg Fe, 24.1 mg Mn and 55.6 mg Zn/kg DW. Correlation coefficients for the regression between nutrient concentrations in the flowers and leaves taken 60 days after full bloom were 0.309 for N, 0.342 for P, 0.319 for K, -0.214 for Ca, -0.012 for Mg, 0.222 for Fe, 0.455 for Mn and 0.026 for Zn. It is concluded that flower analysis has the potential to be used for diagnosing nutritional status.