Franz Niederholzer1 CommentSeptember 9, 2013Nutrient

Sustainable Nutrient Management: a Review.

Almond harvest looks to be progressing well (knock, knock).  Orchard fertility/nutrition planning for the 2014 is beginning.  Now is a good opportunity to review the basics of almond orchard nutrient management.  While some of what follows will be review for many readers, a quick review may be of value. Sustainable nutrient management comes down to the four R’s – the Right Rate, the Right Time, the Right Place, and the Right Material.  A sustainable approach to orchard nutrition is intended to optimize crop production and maximizing net profit while reducing the risk of environmental contamination.

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David Doll7 CommentsJanuary 24, 2013Nutrient

Nutrient Removal for Almond

I have received a few inquiries about the nutrients removed for almond. Based on Dr. Patrick Brown’s group’s work (Sebastian Saa Silva and others), the amount of NPK removed with every 1000 kernel pounds of almond is: Nitrogen – 65 lbs, Phosphorous – 8 lbs, and Potassium – 76 lbs. This includes the nutrients removed will all of the materials exported out of the orchard in a typical pick-up operation – hulls, sticks, leaves, shells, and kernels. Keep in mind that more than the above amounts may be needed to compensate for the inefficiencies of application and uptake (i.e. nitrogen uptake efficiency is somewhere between 75-85%, condition dependent — so to have 65 lbs of uptake, 76-85 lbs of N must be applied). As noted in the comments below, potassium and phosphorous must be converted to oxides. This can be done as follows: Almond removal 8lbs of P = 18.4lb of P2O5 76 lbs of K = 91.2 lbs of K2O For Phosphorus o Lbs. P x 2.3 = lbs. P2O5 o Lbs. P2O5 x 0.43 = lbs. P   For Potash o Lbs. K x 1.2 = lbs. K20 o Lbs. K20 x 0.83 = lbs. K

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