Irrigation and fertigation effects on phosphorus and potassium nutrition of wine grapes

Authors

  • I. Klein
  • M. Strime
  • L. Fanberstein
  • Y. Mani

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/vitis.2000.39.55-62

Keywords:

leaf analysis, petiole, blade, mineral nutrition, recycled water

Abstract

The optimal rate of irrigation of the three wine grapes Sauvignon blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in a semi-arid environment in Israel, was investigated during 1992 - 1998, The drip irrigation I ate was gradually raised after bud break up to a level of either 0.3, 0.4 or 0.5 Pan A coefficient, and then these coefficients vi ere maintained throughout the rest of the growing season. In an additional experiment the effects of secondary purified recycled effluent and fresh water irrigation was compared in Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, irrigated by surface and sub-surface drippers. The nutritional status of the vineyard was followed by leaf petiole and leaf blade analyses carried out at flowering and at harvest. Leaf petiole and blade analyses indicated that the nitrogen status of the vines was adequate. The tissue potassium level in the young vineyard was luxurious (ca, 2-3 % in petiole at harvest), reflecting an abundant supply of It by the soil, while the tissue concentration of P was at a deficient level (ca, 0.1 % and less in blades at harvest). Potassium levels declined as the vines matured, probably as a result of K depletion from the limited soil volume explored by the root system under drip irrigation. Low rates of annual phosphate fertigation (5.6-13.7 kg ha-1 P) raised tissue-P proportionally to the rate of fertigation, Irrigation according to a Pan A coefficient of 0.3, as compared to coefficients of 0.4 and 0.5, significantly reduced tissue-K levels. Irrigation with recycled water (high in NPK) raised tissue-P significantly, The relative depletion of K and P in leaf petioles and blades, from flowering to harvest, was found to be a good indicator of the nutritional status of these two elements. At flowering petiole-P was polynomially and linearly correlated with petiole- and blade-P at harvest, respectively, under a wide range of P nutritional intensities. Leaf blades at flowering and harvest had higher priority for P under low intensity of P nutrition. Suboptimal P nutrition could be diagnosed best by petiole-P concentration at harvest. The inflection petiole concentration associated with optimum P nutrition was 0.413 % P at flowering, which corresponded to 0.133 % P in petiole and blade at harvest time.

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Published

2015-06-12

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