Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.
2006
Volume 9
Issue 3
Topic:
Horticulture
ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Ochmian I. , Grajkowski J. , Ostrowska K. 2006. GROWTH AND YIELD OF AMERICAN BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) OF ‘PATRIOT’ CULTIVAR GROWN ON THREE TYPES OF ORGANIC BED, EJPAU 9(3), #16.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume9/issue3/art-16.html

GROWTH AND YIELD OF AMERICAN BLUEBERRY (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM L.) OF ‘PATRIOT’ CULTIVAR GROWN ON THREE TYPES OF ORGANIC BED

Ireneusz Ochmian1, Józef Grajkowski2, Krystyna Ostrowska1
1 Department of Horticulture, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
2 Department of Pomology, Agricultural University of Szczecin, Poland

 

ABSTRACT

The experiment was carried out in 2003-2005 at the Experimental Fruit-growing Station of the Szczecin University of Agriculture. Its purpose was to investigate possibilities of growing ‘Patriot’ variety of the American blueberry on tight soil of alkaline reaction covered with three types of organic bed in form of embankment. The plantation was irrigated with acidified water (pH 2.4-3.7) by means of T-Tape type drip system. The study covered the number and length of one-year shoots, yield and its features and chemical and physical changes in the bed. The experiment made it possible to find out that the regular irrigation of organic beds with high reaction of acidified water facilitates the growth and yield of the American blueberry. Peat and sawdust proved to influence the growth and yield of the plant best. The organic beds used throughout the experiment (peat, cocoa husk and sawdust) exhibited the similar ‘full water capacity’.

Key words: Vaccinium corymbosum, Peat, Cocoa husk, Sawdust, total yield, growth.

INTRODUCTION

The American blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is one of the youngest fruit-growing species. It is also an excellent example of how to change a wild plant into a useful farm plant through effort put in by growers to improve it. The first attempt in this respect was made by dr Frederic V. Coville [11] in the USA in the beginning of the 20th century. His work focused on selecting wild grown species of the blueberry and improving such characters as the berry size and yield. The fruit was found very attractive and more and more people became interested in growing mainly due to its diet values [17]. The blueberry fruit was recognized as one of the best foods due to the antioxidant activity – neutralization of free radicals. Anthocyanins and polyphenols found in the peel and flesh just under the peel are natural antioxidants. The content of these compounds in the blueberry depends, among other things, on a variety, maturity and fruit size and growing conditions as well.

The feature of the Ericaceae is very different soil requirements compared to other fruit-grown plants. The shrub concerned is very common n areas of pine forest, on acid and moist soils [2], that contain lots of organic matter [11]. Soils of the higher reaction can be acidified by means of acid peat or sulfur. In the USA the following matter was used to grow the blueberry: cotton waste, pecan husk [7], compost of leaves, hard coal ash and sludge [1], and pine tree needles [6]. The bed of highmoor peat and coniferous sawdust produced good results as well [13, 21].

Blueberry shrubs have a very dense root system with roots just under the soil surface and the roots are very sensitive to the lack of water [8]. The irrigation can help keep the water content [4], and to maintain the relatively low water pH is really important [5, 9] since the irrigation water is generally alkaline [10]. The irrigation shall keep the water content of 0.03 Mpa of the water potential [18]. Too much water in the soil is unfavorable. The very damp soil tends to cause the slow root dying out and the reduction in the photosynthesis. The ground water level plays an important role and in case of the American blueberry it can not be higher than 30-40 cm below the soil surface. The abundant dying out of fine roots occurs in case of intense growth in the water content, even after a heavy rainfall [14, 15].

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiment was carried out in 2003-2005 at the Experimental Fruit-growing Station of the Szczecin University of Agriculture. Its purpose was to study possibilities of growing the American blueberry on tight soil of alkaline reaction (7.1) with three different beds (photo 1). The study covered ‘Patriot’ variety, which was planted in 2002 (spacing of 1.5×2.5 m). The only nitrogen fertilizers were applied three times a year to total 5 g N · 1 m-2. The plantation was irrigated every year by means of a T-Tape type fixed drip system and the emitter capacity was 1 liter per hour (5 liters of water per hour per 1 running meter of the system) and the water applied was acidified by injector pump with sulphuric acid. The irrigation rate was changed with reference to the water content in the soil measured by contact soil tensiometers.

The experiment covered ‘Patriot’ variety shrubs planted according to random sub-block method in 6 replications on embankments based on the brown type soil and made of boulder clay of 7.1 reaction. The embankments were 35 cm high and 100 cm wide.

Three types of bed were used to make embankments:

  1. acid reaction mursh soil (peat),

  2. composted cocoa husk (waste of chocolate production),

  3. composted coniferous sawdust.

Photo 1. Bushes of American blueberry of ‘Patriot’ cultivar growing on three beds (from left side: Peat, Sawdust, Cocoa husk) – fot. I. Ochmian

The following measurements and observations were made on the shrubs under study every year:

The one-factor analysis of variance was used every year to identify the significance of the influence of the beds on the growth and fruit quality and the synthesis to cover all the experiment years followed. The average values were verified by means of Duncan test and the NIR was calculated for α = 0.05.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The tap water was used to irrigate the plants and certain chemical-physical properties that may affect the blueberry growth and operation of the irrigation system were checked. (tab. 1). The iron content was 0.17 mg · l-1, still within the lower range of average values with reference to the probable clogging of drip emitters [19]. The electric conduction of the tap water as the potential salinity agent was 0.80 mS · cm-1, and was still within the range of lower values for plant sensitivity acc. to Treder [19] after Vomocil and Hart.

Table 1. Chemical-physical properties of tap water used throught the experiment

Pure tap water

Acidified water to irrigate husk and sawdust

Acidified water to irrigate peat

Fe+3
mg·l-1

Ca+2
mg·l-1

EC
mS·cm-1

pH

EC
mS·cm-1

pH

EC
mS·cm-1

pH

0.17

94.0

0.80

7.01

2.46

2.36

2.01

3.72

The reaction of the organic bed, sawdust and cocoa husk varied from 6.9 to 7.1 (tab. 2), this the only requirement was to reduce the pH to be tolerated by the blueberry. The acidified water was then used with certain amounts of the sulfuric acid. The reaction of the tap water was decreased from pH 7.01 down to 2.36 or 3.72 (tab. 1) under condition of the gradual increase once the bed reaction stabilizes at pH 4.0. The acidification resulted in the tap water salinity increase up to 2.46 mS · cm-1, still within the upper range of the average plant sensitivity. The water to irrigate the peat bed was acidified to reach the reaction of 3.72 thus increasing the salinity to 2.01 mS · cm-1. The purpose of the acidification was to maintain the constant low pH that could be increased by the use of water containing 94 mg of Ca ions in one liter of water and the water ascension effect of the alkaline subsoil.

Air-water relations in the bed are quite significant as far as the irrigation is concerned. These properties are shown in table 2. According to Quast [12], the water saturation of peat within 1000-300 cm water column equivalent to 2.0 do 2.48 pF that provides the optimum water content in the bed can be achieved by the irrigation expressed by 7% of the bed volume.

In the experiment one preliminary irrigation dose for one row of plants was calculated as follows: 5 m3 of bed × 7% = 350 l of water.

Table 2. Physical properties of beds used throughout the experiment
 

Full water capacity,
% vv-1

Field water capacity,
% ww-1

Overcapillary volume

Peat

80.6

44.8

35.8

Cocoa husk

85.3

36.9

48.4

Sawdust

82.6

31.3

51.4

This dose was assumed for all the beds. Therefore the one pouring dose in the experiment was 1,000 l and its frequency was determined according to tensiometer readings. Actually, the change from 2.48 to 2.0 pF was effected for all the organic beds in one pouring dose that confirmed the assumptions. The greatest share of overcapillary volume, i.e. 51.4% was found in the sawdust that makes the best aeration conditions for the root system even in case of long-lasting rainfall. The sawdust, however, exhibited the field water capacity of 31.3% that means the water availability to the plants was poor compared to other beds in case of water content below 2.48 pF. Plants on the sawdust were subject to consequences of the water shortage in case of low rainfall.

One of the features to help identify the usefulness of the bed for a certain species is the rate production and growth of young shoots (tab. 3). In 2003-2004 the number of one-year shoots per shrub was 3.5 on all the beds but in the last year it doubled. The bed, however, influenced better lenght of shoots. Shrubs planted on the cocoa husk exhibited the lowest average and the total length of one-year shoots. The blueberry grown on peat and sawdust exhibited similar total of the annual increase, from 270 to 307 cm. Comparable values were reported by Wach [20] for his experiment.

Table 3. Average length of one-year shoot and total length of one-year shoots of the blueberry vs. bed

Average shoot annual length, cm

Year

Peat

Cocoa husk

Sawdust

Mean

2003

45.0b*

37.7a

37.9a

40.2a

2004

57.4b

39.0a

53.8b

50.1b

2005

51.2b

40.8a

60.4c

50.8b

Mean

51.2b

39.2a

50.7b

 

Total shoot annual length, cm

2003

196b

142a

207b

182a

2004

269c

92a

192b

184a

2005

457b

297a

411b

388b

Mean

307b

177a

270b

 
* Means followed by the same letter or asterix do not differ significant at p = 0.05 according to Duncan’s multiple range test

The first low crop was yielded in the second year after planting. The yield size and the weight of 100 fruits are shown in table 4. In the first yielding year the largest crop (0.12 kg) was harvested from shrubs grown on the peat. In the second yielding year sawdust based plants yielded the largest crop (0.68 kg). There were reported low yields in 2005 caused by one-night frost (-9.9°C – 21.04.2005). Similar values were reported by Wach [20] for his experiment. During the three-year-experiment there were no significant differences in crops yielded on peat and sawdust. The lowest crop, however, was reported for the cocoa husk based plants (photo 2).

Photo 2. Bushes of American blueberry of ‘Patriot’ two and four years after planting
(fot. I. Ochmian)

Table 4. Yield and weight of 100 fruits of the blueberry vs. bed

Total yield in bush, kg

Year

Peat

Cocoa husk

Sawdust

Total

2003

0.12b

0.06a

0.09ab

0.27a

2004

0.60b

0.24a

0.68b

1.52c

2005

0.55b

0.11a

0.43b

1.09b

Total

1.27b

0.41a

1.20b

 

Mean weight of 100 fruits, g

2003

145b

99a

129b

124a

2004

138b

114a

121a

124a

2005

158c

123a

145b

142b

Mean

147c

112a

132b

 

The fruits of the peat based plants exhibited the largest unit weight. The average weight of 100 fruits in two years of the experiment was 147 g, similar to results of the experiment carried out by Chlebowska and Smolarz [3]. The fruits of the cocoa husk based plants were significantly lighter (112 g).

The data on the firmness can be found in table 5. The fruits were subjected to compression strength along the diameter axis and the height. The firmness meter can take the distance every. The highest firmness along the diameter axis of 206 g·mm-1 was found in the fruits of the peat based plants whereas the lowest was reported in the cocoa husk based ones. The firmness of the blueberry fruits along the height doubles compared to the values along the diameter axis and reaches 440 g·mm-1 in the fruits of the cocoa husk based plants and 492 g·mm-1 in the peat based ones. The ratio between the firmness measured along the height and the diameter is relatively constant and varies from 2.28 to 2.39, whereas the lowest was found in the cocoa based fruits and the highest in the peat ones.

The fruit size varied from 8.5 mm height and 16.6 mm dia in the cocoa husk based plants to 10.5 mm height and 18.7 mm dia in the peat ones.

Table 5. Size and firmness of the blueberry fruits in 2004 vs. bed

 

Fruit diameter

Fruit height

Year

Peat

Cocoa husk

Sawdust

Peat

Cocoa husk

Sawdust

Size
mm

2004

18.7b

16.6a

16.2a

10.5b

8.5a

9.7ab

2005

20.1

15.4

18.9

9.9

8.2

10.1

Mean

19.4

16.0

17.6

10.2

8.4

9.9

Firmness
G/1 mm deflection

2004

206b

193a

200ab

492c

438a

469b

2005

197ab

174a

209b

455b

411a

475b

Mean

202b

184a

205b

474b

425a

472b

Organic beds exhibited varied content of macroelements in certain years of study (tab. 6). The cocoa husk contains lots of P, K and Mg. The K content of 193-280 mg · l-1 is twice as high as the content reported by Quast [12] and 40 times higher than the K content in the peat. The P content is 12 times higher and Mg content 5 times higher than reported for the peat. The K content in the cocoa husk is 6-8 times higher and P and Mg content 8 and more than 4 times higher according to compared to the optimum figures given by Scibisz [16].

Table 6. Reaction and content of mineral elements in beds used in the experiment

Year

 

pHH20

N-NO3

P

K

Mg

mg·100 g soil

2003

Peat

3.4

6.8

4.3

1.7

5.7

Cocoa husk

7.1

2.5

46

70

25.5

Sawdust

6.9

7.8

6.3

22.3

11.8

2004

Peat

4.2

29.1

5.7

16.6

24.3

Cocoa husk

5.4

40.3

31.5

48.3

50.8

Sawdust

5.3

14.0

5.5

12.0

20.5

2005

Peat

4.5

1.5

8.4

8.3

8.7

Cocoa husk

5.4

6.8

17.7

39.4

27.8

Sawdust

5.6

1.1

12.9

11.2

9.5

Unfortunately, in 2003 the cocoa husk and sawdust exhibit high reaction of 6.9 to 7.1 despite the use of acidified water. The regular acidification may result in the slow reduction in the bed reaction to 5.3-5.4 in 2004. In 2005 the soli pH stabilized on 4.0-4.5 level. In next years, P and K were ranging with proclivity towards changing itself into inaccessible to plants compounds along with bed mineralization. It could have been caused by soil acidity what was especially exposed on cocoa husk.

According to Smolarz [14] the optimum reaction should vary between 3.5 and 4.0 pH. The irrigation with the acidified water, however, enabled the correct growth of the blueberry.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. The organic beds used throughout the experiment, i.e. peat, cocoa husk and sawdust exhibit similar full water capacity, the peat exhibits the highest field water capacity, 13.5% higher than the sawdust.

  2. Regular irrigation of organic beds (pH 6.9-7.1) with the acidified water enables the growth and yielding of the American blueberry.

  3. Peat and sawdust were most favorable in terms of the shrub growth.

  4. The American blueberry yielded some crop already in the second year after planting. The total yield of 2003-2005 of peat and sawdust based plants was similar, whereas the cocoa husk based plants produced the crop lowest by 70%.

  5. The influence of the bed type on the fruit quality varied. The peat based plants produced the largest fruits and of the best firmness, whereas the influence of the cocoa husk was least favorable.


REFERENCES

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Accepted for print: 07.09.2006


Ireneusz Ochmian
Department of Horticulture, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
phone +48 91 449 61 61
Słowackiego 17, 71-434 Szczecin
POLAND
email: ochir@o2.pl

Józef Grajkowski
Department of Pomology,
Agricultural University of Szczecin, Poland
8 Janosika, 71-432 Szczecin, Poland
Phone: (+48 91) 422-08-51 ex. 325
email: jgrajkowski@o2.pl

Krystyna Ostrowska
Department of Horticulture, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
Słowackiego 17, 71-434 Szczecin
POLAND

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