Growing Legumes in Orchard Alleys as an Internal Nitrogen Source
| Autor: | Joan R. Davenport, David Granatstein, Elizabeth Kirby |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | HortScience. 52:1283-1287 |
| ISSN: | 2327-9834 0018-5345 |
| DOI: | 10.21273/hortsci12121-17 |
| Popis: | The drive alley in modern apple (Malus ×domestica Bork.) orchards often receives enough light to grow plants other than the typical perennial grass cover. By planting leguminous species in this area, it is possible to produce a portion of the nitrogen needs of the orchard by mowing the vegetation and blowing it onto the tree row where it mineralizes and releases available N over the tree roots. Four perennial legume species [alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), ladino white clover (Trifolium repens L.), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum L.)] were compared with the resident grass cover crop in a mature apple orchard. All legumes were direct-seeded into the alley to avoid any soil disturbance and were successfully established. Legume biomass and tissue N were monitored, along with biweekly monitoring of tree row soil nitrogen with both soil sampling and ion exchange resins using Plant Root Simulator® probes. Four mowings of alfalfa contained ≈43 kg total N/ha that was added to the tree row during the second season (2009), with a dry matter C:N of 10.8. Economically, legume nitrogen appears to be less expensive than other sources of organic N and may be cost competitive with synthetic fertilizer N when prices are high. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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