New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts

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Fruit mineral removal rates from New Zealand apple (Malus domestica) orchards in the Nelson region

J. W. Palmer

The Horticulture and Food Research Institute
of New Zealand
Nelson Research Centre
P.O. Box 220
Motueka, New Zealand
email: jpalmer@hortresearch.co.nz

G. Dryden

Fruition Horticulture
Richmond
Nelson, New Zealand

Abstract Total picked yields and whole fruit mineral analyses just before harvest were recorded from seven apple (Malus domestica) orchards over the Nelson region of New Zealand over 2–3 years from mature trees of ‘Braeburn’, ‘Cox’, ‘Fuji’, and ‘Royal Gala’ as part of the Nelson Focus Orchard Project. Estimated mean fruit nutrient removal rates for a 70 t ha–1 picked yield of apples were 82 kg ha–1 potassium, 31 kg ha–1 nitrogen, 7 kg ha–1 phosphorus, and both calcium and magnesium at c. 4 kg ha–1 per year. These results are discussed in relation to fertiliser inputs and previous reports of nutrient removal for other cultivars and locations, both in New Zealand and overseas.

Keywords fruit mineral content; nitrogen; potassium; phosphorus

New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2006, Vol. 34: 27–32
0014–0671/06/3401–0027      © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2006
H05009; Online publication date 19 January 2006
Received 27 January 2005; accepted 11 November 2005

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