Potassium Fertilization in Citrus Orchards

Document Type : مروری

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Soil and Water Research Department, Mazandaran Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Sari, Iran

2 Agronomy and Horticultural Science Department, Mazandaran Agricultuarl and Nutural Resources Research and Education

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate potassium fertilization management on citrus orchards as an effort to gain a better understanding of the potassium requirement, amount of fertilization, and proper timing of potassium application as well as potassium uptake and transfer in citrus trees. The findings can be effectively employed in formulating horticultural recommendations toward optimized potassium application. On average, mature citrus trees contain 300 to 750 kg/ha of K, 15 to 20 percent of which is found in the leaves and 45 to 60 percent in the fruits. Long-term citrus fertilization experiments in Iran and elsewhere have revealed that around 50 to 200 kg/ha of potassium as K2O is annually needed to achieve sustainable production, improved fruit yield and quality, and proper tree growth and health. Around 50-70% of this amount is consumed in fruits, about 5% deposited in tree structure and organs, and the balance between the potassium absorbed and that consumed is made up by absorption and desorption reactions at soil exchange surfaces. Studies in the past have shown that the highest K-requirement and K-uptake rate in citrus trees belong to the period from June drop to fruit maturation (i.e., the second stage of fruit growth) but that the lowest uptakes are observed during minimum activity (i.e., in the winter), at the beginning of the growing season, and after harvesting. The potassium stored in older tissues, therefore, plays the greatest role in the growth and development of leaves, branches, flowers, and fruits during the early growing season (i.e., the beginning of twig growth, flowering, and fruit setting) when potassium uptake from the soil is still at its lowest. Like the tree potassium reserves, foliar application of potassium fertilizers will, therefore, play an important role in regulating the supply of potassium to the newly growing and developing organs, especially at the beginning of the growing season. The purpose of potassium fertilizer application is, therefore, to ensure sustainable production, enhanced tree performance, improved fruit storage, and reduced fruit physiological disorders. Obviously, application of potassium fertilizer to soil prior to flowering and fruit setting has been found to have no effects on the development of spring twigs, nor on the current year flowering or fruit setting. It may, therefore, be recommended that producers should stop soil application of fertilizers before flowering and fruit setting, but start K application (percentage of the annual requirement) from the middle to the end of the first stage and gradually increase it to its maximum during the second stage of fruit maturation.

Keywords

References

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  1. Yasini, K., Malkuti, M.J., Asadi Kangarshahi, A. and Roadbari, S., 2021. Two -year study on the role of balanced fertilization in orange fruit yield increase and tolerance to frost in orange fruit. Hort. Plants Nutr, 4(2), pp. 137-148.doi:10.22070/hpn.2022.5333.1087 (In Persian)
Land Management Journal
Volume 12, Issue 1
September 2024
Pages 57-80

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