Plant Soil Environ., 2012, 58(10):465-470 | DOI: 10.17221/6342-PSE

The effect of calcium foliar fertilizers on cv. Ligol apples

J. Lanauskas1, N. Kvikliené1, N. Uselis1, D. Kviklys1, L. Buskiené1, R. Mažeika2, G. Staugaitis2
1 Instituteof Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Babtai, Lithuania
2 Agrochemical Researches Laboratory, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture

The effects of calcium fertilizers on cv. Ligol apples were studied in the experiment conducted at the Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture in 2007-2009. Fertilizers were applied four or eight times from June to September on the 8th-9th leaf of apple trees on P 22 rootstock. Calcium nitrate or liquid calcium fertilizers were used. The results differed over the years of experiment. During the first year, four applications of liquid calcium fertilizers significantly reduced the Mg/Ca ratio in fruit, whereas in 2008 the tendency of decrease in the ratios of K/Ca and Mg/Ca at both fertilizers was observed. The bitter pit incidence rate on stored apples of the 2007 yield was 1.5-3.0%. The eight applications of liquid calcium fertilizers significantly reduced the incidence of bitter pit after storage. In 2008, higher fruit calcium content and lower ratios of N/Ca, K/Ca, and Mg/Ca were detected. Moreover, these apples were not affected by bitter pit. The worse fruit quality of the 2007 yield could be linked to the abundant rainfall during 2007 vegetation season. However, the application of fertilizers had a positive effect on natural weight loss and fruit flesh firmness after storage.

Keywords: bitter pit; flesh firmness; weight loss; storage

Published: October 31, 2012  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Lanauskas J, Kvikliené N, Uselis N, Kviklys D, Buskiené L, Mažeika R, Staugaitis G. The effect of calcium foliar fertilizers on cv. Ligol apples. Plant Soil Environ. 2012;58(10):465-470. doi: 10.17221/6342-PSE.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Biggs A.R. (1999): Effects of calcium salts on apple bitter rot caused by two Colletotrichum spp. Plant Disease, 83: 1001-1005. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. Casero T., Benavides A.L., Recasens I. (2009): Interrelation between fruit mineral content and pre-harvest calcium treatments on 'Golden Smoothee' apple quality. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 33: 27-37. Go to original source...
    3. Conway W.S., Sams C.E., Hickey K.D. (2002): Pre- and postharvest calcium treatment of apple fruit and its effect on quality. Acta Horticulturae, 594: 413-419. Go to original source...
    4. Domagała-Świątkiewicz I., Błaszczyk J. (2007): The effect of late spraying with calcium nitrate on mineral contents in 'Elise' apples. Folia Horticulturae, 19: 47-56.
    5. Drazeta L., Lang A., Morgan L., Volz R., Jameson P.E. (2001): Bitter pit and vascular function in apples. Acta Horticulturae, 564: 387-392. Go to original source...
    6. Gallerani G., Pratella G.C., Bertolini P., Marchi A. (1990): Lack of relationship between total calcium of apple fruit and a calcium deficiency related disorder (bitter pit): a four year report. Acta Horticulturae, 274: 141-148. Go to original source...
    7. Gastol M., Poniedzialek W. (2005): Effect of different dwarfing methods on calcium content in different apple tree organs. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Hortorum Cultus, 4: 11-19.
    8. Guerra M., Casquero P.A. (2010): Summer pruning: An ecological alternative to postharvest calcium treatment to improve storability of high quality apple cv. 'Reinette du Canada'. Food Science and Technology International, 16: 343-350. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    9. Jackson J.E. (2003): Biology of Apples and Pears. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Go to original source...
    10. Lanauskas J., Kviklienė N. (2005): Effect of calcium fertilizer sprays on storage quality of Shampion apples. Sodininkystė ir Daržininkystė, 24: 20-28.
    11. Lanauskas J., Kviklienė N. (2006): Effect of calcium foliar application on some fruit quality characteristics of 'Sinap Orlovskij' apple. Agronomy Research, 4: 31-36.
    12. Peryea F.J., Neilsen G.H., Faubion D. (2007): Start-timing for calcium chloride spray programs influences fruit calcium and bitter pit in 'Braeburn' and 'Honeycrisp' apples. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 30: 1213-1227. Go to original source...
    13. Piestrzeniewicz C., Tomala K. (2001): Some factors influencing storage ability of 'Jonagold' apples. Acta Horticulturae, 564: 435-442. Go to original source...
    14. Saure M.C. (2005): Calcium translocation to fleshy fruit: its mechanism and endogenous control. Scientia Horticulturae, 105: 65-89. Go to original source...
    15. Sió J., Boixadera J., Rosera J. (1999): Effect of orchard factors and mineral nutrition on bitter pit in 'Golden Delicious' apples. Acta Horticulturae, 485: 331-334. Go to original source...
    16. Švagždys S., Viškelis P. (1999): Regulation of apple nutrition and determination of fruit quality parameters. Sodininkystė ir Daržininkystė, 18: 25-33. (In Lithuanian)
    17. Wińska-Krysiak M., Łata B. (2010): Influence of lipoxygenase activity and calcium and potassium contents on bitter pit occurrence in commercial apple cultivars. Folia Horticulturae, 22: 13-17. Go to original source...
    18. Wójcik P. (1997): Calcium nutrition of apple trees. Postepy Nauk Rolniczych, 4: 37-47. (In Polish)
    19. Wójcik P. (1998): Calcium nutrition of higher plants. Wiadomości Botaniczne, 42: 41-52. (In Polish)
    20. Wójcik P., Gubbuk H., Akgül H., Gunes E., Ucgun K., Koçal H., Küçükyumuk C. (2009): Effect of autumn calcium spray at a high rate on 'Granny Smith' apple quality and storability. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 33: 46-56. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content