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Blueberry Research Reports
Originally published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science
Effects of gypsum on yield and nutrient status of native lowbush
blueberry
K. R. Sanderson, M. R. Carter, and J. A. Ivany
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Centre, P.O.
Box 1210, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 7M8.
Sanderson, K. R., Carter, M. R. and Ivany. J. A. 1996. Effects
of gypsum on yield and nutrient status of native lowbush blueberry.
Can. J. Plant Sci. 76: 361 366. Information is required
on the response of native lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium
Ait.) to soil-applied calcium amendments. Field experiments
were carried out in Prince Edward Island to determine the effects
of applied gypsum, as a Ca source, on yield and leaf nutrient
content of native lowbush blueberry at six sites, two locations
per year. Sites were studied over several cropping cycles. Gypsum
applied at 2, 4, 6, and 8 t /ha in the spring of the sprout
year increased marketable yield (from 3.2 to 4.7 t per ha) at
three of six sites in the first crop year following application
of gypsum. Averaged over these three sites, marketable yield
was increased 47% by the application of gypsum at 4.0 t/ ha.
Yield was not affected in the second and third cropping cycles.
Mean berry weight and plant growth were not affected by gypsum
application. Concentration of leaf Ca was increased but not
consistently significant, while leaf S was significantly increased
at all sites in the first cropping cycle. Soil pH was significantly
reduced by gypsum in the first cropping cycle. A yield increase
of 225 kg/ ha would be sufficient to recover the costs of the
applied gypsum.
Key words: Gypsum, leaf nutrient concentration,
lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium Ait., yield
Sanderson, K. R., Carter, M. R. et Ivany. J. A. 1996. Effets
du gypse sur le rendement et sur le Ca nutritionnel du bleuet
nain sauvage. Can. J. Plant Sci. 76: 361 366.
Il existe un besoin d'information sur la réaction du
bleuet nain sauvage (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.)
aux amendements calcaires. Des éxperiences au champ ont
été réalisées à 6 emplacements,
soit 2 endroits par année, dans 1'Île-du-Prince-Édouard
pour établir les effets de l'épandage du gypse,
comme source de Ca, sur le rendement et sur les concentrations
foliaires d'éléments nutritifs dans le bleuet
nain sauvage. Chaque emplacement était suivi pendant
plusieurs sites de production. Les apports de gypse à
raison de 2, 4, 6 et 8 t/ha au printemps de 1'année de
formation des nouvelles pousses accroissaient le rendement commercialisable
(de 3,2 à 4,7 t/ ha) à 3 des 6 emplacements dans
la première année de récolte suivant l'épandage.
A ces trois emplacements, 1'épandage a raison de 4,7
t/ha apportait un accroissement moyen du rendement commercialisable
de l'ordre de 47%. Il n'y avait, toutefois, plus d'éffets
sur le rendement à la 2e et a la 3e année de récolte.
Les épandages de gypse n'avaient pas d'éffet sur
le poids moyen des fruits ni sur la croissance des plantes.
Les concentrations foliaires de Ca augmentaient, mais pas toujours
de façon significative, tandis que celles de S montraient
un accroissement significatif à tous les emplacements
dans le 1er cycle de récolte. Une diminution significative
du pH du sol était causée par le gypse dans le
premier cycle de récolte. Un accroissement de rendement
de 225 kg/ha serait suffisant pour récupérer les
coûts d'épandage du gypse.
Mots clés: Gypse, concentration foliaire
en nutriments, bleuet nain sauvage, Vaccinium angustifolium
Ait., rendement
The lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.)
is native to northeastern North America (Vander Kloet 1978).
Lowbush blueberries are typically found on Podzolic soils (Canada
Soil Survey Committee 1978), which are generally acidic (pH
3.5 5.5), infertile and have well-developed organic layers
(Trevett 1962). Management and environmental factors influence
fruit production of lowbush blueberry. While these factors influence
yields, the natural variability within fields appears to have
the most effect (Hepler and Yarborough 1991).
Blueberry fields are routinely fertilized following pruning,
even though this practice does not produce consistent increases
in fruit yields (Smagula and Hepler 1978; Warman 1987; Eaton
and Patriquin 1988). Lowbush blueberry soils are low in exchangeable
ions and clay content. Under these soil conditions, Ca may be
limiting for adequate plant growth. Gypsum and lime are commonly
applied to certain soils to provide adequate levels of Ca in
the soil solution, and to ensure an adequate supply of plant-available
Ca (Barber 1984). Trevett (1962) in a summary of early experimental
work in Maine indicated only few studies had investigated lowbush
blueberry response to Ca amendments. In Prince Edward Island,
both gypsum and lime have been used to increase the yield of
certain horticultural crops on Podzolic soils (Cutcliffe 1984,
1988; Carter and Cutcliffe 1990). However, Hall et al. (1964),
in a greenhouse study, reported a high negative correlation
between first-year stem length and soil pH as affected by dolomitic
limestone to clones of lowbush blueberry, and determined that
a soil pH range of 4 5 was required for optimum growth.
Studies of crop response to Ca fertilizers and information
concerning Ca nutrition of lowbush blueberries are limited.
There is little information in the literature on the effects
of gypsum application on yield of native lowbush blueberries.
Gypsum is a more soluble form of Ca than lime and may also,
when used as a soil amendment, maintain or even decrease soil
pH (Carter et al. 1986). This field investigation was conducted
to determine the effects of increasing rate of gypsum on some
soil chemical properties, and the marketable yield and leaf
nutrient content of native lowbush blueberry in Prince Edward
Island.
The results presented, encompassing field studies at six different
sites, indicate that the marketable yield of native low-bush
blueberries grown in Prince Edward Island was increased by broadcasting
gypsum in the spring of the sprout year in the first cropping
cycle only. Gypsum applied in the first year had little residual
effect, as yield was not affected in the subsequent second and
third cropping cycle. As expected, application of gypsum tended
to increase extractable soil Ca, and the concentration of both
Ca and S in the blueberry leaves. Based on data from the individual
sites, gypsum applied at 4 and 6 t/ha , gave the greatest increase
in yield at three of the six sites in the first cropping cycle.
Averaged over these three sites, marketable yield was increased
47% by the application of gypsum at 4.0 t/ha , compared with
the control in the first cropping cycle, and 27% in the second
cropping cycle. It is interesting to note that gypsum at 2 t/ha
increased the marketable yield by a minimum of 9% at three of
the six sites selected in this study.
Differences in blueberry productivity among sites is probably
related to variation in weather and soil conditions. Hall et
al. (1982), however, in a study comparing the influence of five
weather variables on blueberry production in eastern Canada,
noted the difficulty in closely relating fruit production to
weather conditions due to differences or variation in blueberry
physiological development. Further to this, fertilization studies
with lowbush blueberry are characterized by inconsistent responses
of fresh fruit yields to nutrition additions (Smagula and Hepler
1978; Trevett 1982; Eaton 1988). However, in this study, although
initial soil fertility levels varied considerably from site
to site, marketable yield of lowbush blueberry was lower at
the Peakes and Wood Islands sites which were characterized by
relatively low initial levels of extractable soil nutrients.
Hall et al. (1964) showed that as pH decreased, leaf P, K,
Mn increased, and leaf Mg decreased. The results of the leaf
analyses in this study agree with these findings. No information
is available concerning critical S levels in the leaf tissue
of lowbush blueberries. However, in relation to other horticultural
crops, leaf S levels in the control treatments (0.08-0.14%)
appear low or deficient (Anonymous 1988), although these low
values did not appear to influence blueberry yields in the second
or third cropping cycles. Values of N, P, K Ca, Mg, and Mn generally
agree with values reported by Townsend and Hall (1970), except
for Fe which was low.
The effect of the gypsum applications was mainly confined to
the first cropping cycle, with only soil extractable Ca and
to some extent leaf Ca showing a response to gypsum application
in the second cropping cycle. The reduction of soil pH due to
gypsum application evident in the first cropping cycle, agrees
with results from other agronomic situations (Carter et al.
1986). Generally, it would appear that gypsum reduced the soil
pH, in the first cropping cycle, to an optimum level for blueberry
growth (Hall et al. 1964). Repeated additions of gypsum, rather
than a one-time application, would be needed to assess more
fully the potential role of gypsum amendments in blueberry production
in Prince Edward Island. Overall, the gypsum effect was short-lived
probably due to leaching of both Ca and SO4 under the relatively
high precipitation regime found in Prince Edward Island, as
indicated by the extractable soil Ca and leaf S levels determined
for the second and third cropping cycle.
Locally, gypsum costs about $42.00/t delivered and bulk-spread.
Therefore, 4 t of gypsum would cost $168/ha. Assuming a lowbush
blueberry price to the grower of $0.75/kg (Atlantic Berry Crops
Committee, personal communication) after picking costs, a yield
increase of 225 kg/ha (a yield increase that was exceeded at
five of six sites in the first year of the study) would be sufficient
to recover applying gypsum. In summary, the results of this
study indicate that the broadcast of gypsum at 4 t/ha may increase
first year (post pruning year) yields of native lowbush blueberries
grown in Prince Edward Island.
The technical assistance of R. C. Stevenson in the conduct
of this study and the advice of J. B. Sanderson in the statistical
analyses and presentation of the data are acknowledged.
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This page and all contents Crown copyright ©
1997, Province of Nova Scotia,
all rights reserved.
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