DIFFERENCES IN MINERAL NUTRIENT CONCENTRATION OF DORMANT CHERRY SPURS AS AFFECTED BY ROOTSTOCK, SCION, AND ORCHARD SITE

Abstract

Dormant sweet (Prunus avium) and sour (P. cerasus) cherry spur nutrient levels can influence a number of initial growth activities in spring, including fruit set and leaf expansion. Rootstock genotypes may vary in uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients to sites of utilization within the canopy. Consequently, at the conclusion of the most recent 10-year North American regional (NC-140) cherry rootstock trial, a collaborative study was initiated to analyze and compare nutrient concentrations from dormant flowering spurs at three of the trial sites: Traverse City, Michigan (MI); Geneva, New York (NY); and Hotchkiss, Colorado (CO). Replicated spur tissue samples of 'Hedelfinger' (MI, NY) and 'Bing' (CO) sweet cherry on up to 18 rootstocks (11 common to all three sites) and of 'Montmorency' sour cherry on up to 12 rootstocks (10 common to both tart cherry sites) were collected in winter, prepared at Michigan State University, and analyzed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), boron (B), copper (Cu), sulfur (S), manganese (Mn), aluminum (Al), and sodium (Na). The rootstock comparisons included Mazzard seedling, Mahaleb seedling, Gisela (Gi) 3, Gi.5, Gi.6, Gi.7, Giessen 195/20, Tabel Edabriz, P50, Weiroot (W) 10, W.13, W.72, W.158, Mazzard x Mahaleb (MxM) 2, MxM.60, and the Hungarian Mahaleb inbred seedling lines CT500, CT2753, and Erdi V. The soil types at the test sites included a sandy loam to loamy sand in Michigan, a fine sandy loam in New York, and a stony loam in Colorado. In general, few consistent trends regarding rootstock influences on dormant spur nutrient levels were found across sites or scions.