USING SPAD-502 VALUES TO ASSESS THE NITROGEN STATUS OF APPLE-TREES

Four apple (Mains domestica Borkh) cultivars ('Fuji', 'Spartan', 'Fiesta', and 'Gala') on Malling 9 (M.9) rootstock were grown in the field with three N rates (5, 20, and 35 g N/tree per year), supplied as Ca(NO3)(2), and fertigated daily for 9 weeks, In the second year, leaf SPAD readings (chlorophyll readings obtained with the Minolta-502 SPAD meter) increased over the growing season for all cultivars, and leaf N decreased, Leaf SPAD and leaf N measurements increased in response to N fertigation rate at all sampling times, 'Gala' consistently had lower SPAD readings than the other cultivars, and, with the exception of the first sampling time, 'Fuji' had higher and 'Fiesta' lower leaf N concentrations than other cultivars, There were strong relationships between leaf N concentration and SPAD readings for all cultivars until mid-July (r(2) = 0.44 to 0.89), but not later in the growing season, Differences in SPAD readings and leaf N concentration due to cultivar and over time were as great as those due to N treatments, indicating that in the future, determination of critical SPAD values for apple leaves must be standardized for cultivar and sampling time, SPAD readings could be used to assess the need for N early in the growing season in fertigated orchards where rapid changes in nutrition programs can be undertaken readily.