Nitrogen nutrition of guava trees in response to byproduct of fruit processing

ABSTRACT

Studies of the effect of organic fertilization of perennial crops are scarce due to the time necessary for the plants to present the first results. The objective of this study was to assess the leaf nitrogen (N) content, the direct and indirect measures of chlorophyll content, fruit yield and their correlations in an orchard of adult guava trees of the Paluma cultivar, through five consecutive harvests, in function of application of a byproduct of guava processing. The following doses of the byproduct were applied: 0, 9, 18, 27 and 36 t ha⁻¹. The material was applied on the surface, without incorporation, once a year between 2006 and 2010. The byproduct doses influenced the nitrogen concentrations, SPAD index, chlorophyll b level and fruit production.

KEYWORDS:

• Psidium guajava
• chlorophyll a
• chlorophyll b
• SPAD index
• leaf diagnosis