Soft Fruit and Vines – Established Plantations
For bush and cane fruits, nitrogen rates may need to be modified depending on the amount of annual growth required for a particular production system. When nitrogen is deficient, leaves tend to be small and pale green. Nitrogen should not be applied to raspberries after the end of July to avoid excessive growth of soft cane. However, when nitrogen is being applied at lower rates through fertigation, applications may continue up until the end of August. For blackcurrants, fertiliser should be applied to bare soil only or at rates increased to compensate for the grass.
For crops which are establishing prior to reaching full crop potential, smaller rates of nitrogen are usually adequate. The rate should be adjusted according to the amount of growth required and the results of leaf nitrogen analysis.
For established crops, the timing of phosphate, potash and magnesium applications is not critical.
Soft fruit and vines – nitrogen
| |
kg/ha
|
| Blackcurrants |
| Light sand and shallow soils |
160
|
| Deep silty soils |
110
|
| Clays |
120
|
| Other mineral soils |
140
|
| Redcurrants, Gooseberries, Raspberries, Logan berries, Tayberries, Blackberriesa |
| Light sand and shallow soils |
120
|
| Deep silty soils |
70
|
| Clays |
80
|
| Other mineral soils |
100
|
| Vinesb |
| Light sand and shallow soils |
60
|
| Deep silty soils |
0
|
| Clays |
20
|
| Other mineral soils |
40
|
a. With continuing change in varieties, adjust nitrogen rates depending on plant vigour.
b. Excessive growth of vines will cause wood to ripen slowly and a yield reduction in the following crop. Reduce nitrogen rates where growth is excessive.
Soft fruit and vines – phosphate and potash
| |
SNS, P, K or Mg Index
|
|
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
>4
|
| P mg/l (Olsen's) |
0-9
|
10-15
|
16-25
|
26-45
|
>46
|
| K mg/l |
0-60
|
61-120
|
121-240
|
241-400
|
>401
|
| Mg mg/l |
0-25
|
26-50
|
51-100
|
101-175
|
>176
|
|
kg/ha
|
| Blackcurrants, Redcurrants, Gooseberries, Raspberries, Logan berries, Tayberries |
| Phosphate (P2O5) |
110
|
70
|
40
|
40
|
0
|
|
Potash (K2O)
|
250a
|
180a
|
120
|
60
|
0
|
|
Blackberries, Vines
|
| Phosphate (P2O5) |
110
|
70
|
40
|
40
|
0
|
|
Potash (K2O)
|
220
|
150
|
80
|
0
|
0
|
| All crops |
| Magnesium (MgO) |
100
|
65
|
50
|
0
|
0
|
a. Sulphate of potash should be used for raspberries, redcurrants and gooseberries where more than 120 kg K2O/ha is applied.
For phosphate fertilisers, use only those that contain a large proportion of water-soluble phosphate.
To avoid inducing magnesium deficiency, the soil K: Mg ratio (based on soil mg/litre K and Mg) should be no greater than 3:1.
Don’t forget to deduct nutrients applied as organic manures (see Section 2)