265 SPRING NITROGEN UPTAKE, ALLOCATION, AND LEACHING LOSS OF CITRUS IN A SANDY SOIL

Abstract

Eighteen, 4-year-old Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) cv. `Redblush' trees on either Volkamer lemon (C. volkameriana = VL) or Sour orange (C. aurantium = SO) rootstocks were grown in 7.6 kiloliter drainage lysimeters in a Candler fine sand (Typic Quartzipsamments), and fertilized with nitrogen (N) in 40 split applications at 76, 140 and 336 g N year-1 (= 0.2, 0.4 and 0.9 x the recommended annual rate). Labelled 15N was substituted for the N in a single fertigation at each rate at the time of fruit set the following year, to determine N uptake, allocation and leaching losses. “Nitrogen-uptake and allocation were primarily determined by the sink demand of fruit and vegetative growth, which in turn were strongly influenced by rootstock species. Larger trees on VL required at least 336 g N yr-1 to maintain high growth rates whereas smaller trees on SO of the same age only required 140 g N year-1. Of the 15N applied at the 336 g N rate to the SO trees, 39% still remained in the soil profile after 29 days. With optimally scheduled irrigations, 15N leached below the root zone was less than 3% of that applied after 29 days, regardless of rate. However, 17% of the applied 15N was recovered from a blank (no tree) lysimeter tank. Total 15N recovery ranged from 55-84% of that applied, indicating that a sizeable fraction of the 15N applied may have been lost through denitrification.