Influencia de portainjertos clonales sobre la concentración foliar de nutrimentos en aguacate ‘Hass’ cultivado sin riego

Abstract

The objectives of this research were: a) detect differences in leaf nutrient concentrations of various clonal avocado rootstocks prior to being grafted, and b) determine the effect of the rootstock on leaf nutrient concentrations in young and adult ‘Hass’ scions grown without irrigation. Rootstocks were planted in 2000 and grafted in 2001 in a rainfed orchard in the municipality of Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. As control, ‘Hass’ on native rootstock grown from seed was used. Thirty six-month-old leaves from the winter vegetative flush were sampled from each tree and from them the concentration of macro- and micronutrients was determined. The ungrafted rootstocks and the young ‘Hass’ trees on the evaluated rootstocks showed no variations in leaf nutrient concentrations, and in adult trees there were only differences for P. Leaf concentrations of N, P, Ca, Mn and B were higher at the beginning of the productive stage of the trees, while nutrient concentrations of Fe and Zn were higher in trees in full production. The type of rootstock used did not affect fruit production. This research identified rootstocks that positively or negatively modify leaf nutrient concentrations in ‘Hass’ scions, which will help the commercial management of their nutrition.