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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops
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Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 17368

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Moreno Toselli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 33-40126 Bologna, Italy
Interests: soil fertility; nutrient
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Horticultural fertilization is moving toward a digitized, precision management through wireless remote-control solutions. To be sustainable, this approach requires fertility indexes that can provide information about the soil nutrient availability and tree nutritional status. The indexes should be easily measurable, economically affordable, and reliable to allow a precise fertilizer application rate for each crop in each environment. A number of methods can be employed to achieve this goal, for example, (1) probes to measure nutrients in soil solution, (2) sensors for xylem sap electric conductivity, (3) systems that can estimate nutrient concentration in xylem sap, leaf or fruits, etc. Research should provide information about the availability, precision, and possible application of these tools.

Dr. Moreno Toselli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil solution
  • nutrient availability
  • fertility probes
  • xylem sap
  • electromagnetic wave
  • leaf nutrient

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1980 KiB  
Article
Soil Nitrogen and Weed Biodiversity: An Assessment under Two Orchard Floor Management Practices in a Nitrogen Vulnerable Zone in Italy
by Md Jebu Mia, Elga Monaci, Giorgio Murri, Francesca Massetani, Jacopo Facchi and Davide Neri
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040096 - 7 Dec 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3767
Abstract
Nowadays, understory vegetation along the tree row is considered a vital source of agroecosystem services and functional biodiversity improvement in the fruit orchard. Hence, current orchard floor management systems encourage practicing a more sustainable approach that supports vegetation cover rather than keeping bare [...] Read more.
Nowadays, understory vegetation along the tree row is considered a vital source of agroecosystem services and functional biodiversity improvement in the fruit orchard. Hence, current orchard floor management systems encourage practicing a more sustainable approach that supports vegetation cover rather than keeping bare soil herbicide use, or tillage. A two-year field trial was conducted using two different ground management techniques; integrated mowing (mower and brush or disc) and herbicide (glyphosate) in two commercial apple and peach orchards in a nitrogen vulnerable zone (NVZ) of the Marche region, Italy. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of these practices on soil N status, weed abundance, percent of soil cover, and dry weed biomass production. Weed management systems had no significant effect on soil organic matter and N availability; however, an improvement was noticed under integrated mowing when compared to the one treated with herbicides. Integrated mowing had a significant effect on species richness, soil coverage, and weed biomass production, which was approximately 2-times higher than in the herbicide-treated plots. The overall results showed that integrated mowing maintained a balance in the soil N status of both orchards, while supporting above-ground weed biodiversity and soil protection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops)
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13 pages, 786 KiB  
Article
Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis (CND) Applied to Grapevines Grown in Subtropical Climate Region
by Danilo Eduardo Rozane, Betania Vahl de Paula, George Wellington Bastos de Melo, Eduardo Maciel Haitzmann dos Santos, Edicarla Trentin, Carina Marchezan, Lincon Oliveira Stefanello da Silva, Adriele Tassinari, Lucas Dotto, Filipe Nunes de Oliveira, William Natale, Elena Baldi, Moreno Toselli and Gustavo Brunetto
Horticulturae 2020, 6(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6030056 - 4 Sep 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4931
Abstract
Soil analysis is used to estimate nutrient availability, but nutrient concentrations are not always related to yield in most fruit plants, including grapevines. Thus, additional multivariate mathematical models, such as the compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND), which takes into account leaves nutrient concentration, and [...] Read more.
Soil analysis is used to estimate nutrient availability, but nutrient concentrations are not always related to yield in most fruit plants, including grapevines. Thus, additional multivariate mathematical models, such as the compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND), which takes into account leaves nutrient concentration, and yield, can contribute to estimating critical levels or sufficiency bands of elements, as well as to detect deficiency and/or excess of nutrients. The aim of the present study was to establish CND standards, and the critical level and sufficiency band of nutrients, in the grapevine Vitis vinifera L., grown in a subtropical climate region. Leaves were collected in 81 vineyards in the Campanha Gaúcha do Rio Grande do Sul region, Southern Brazil, and analyzed for macro- and micro-nutrient concentration. The yield of each vineyard was assessed. Grapevine nutritional status was calculated through the CND method. CND-r2 indices were effective in establishing the nutritional status of grapevines for macro- and micro-nutrients as sub-optimal, excessive, or balanced. The CND methodology established the critical level and sufficiency bands of nutrients more accurately than the current recommendations for grapevines. Multi-nutrient associations were more effective than the single nutrient determination in defining the threshold of a given nutrient that can reduce grapevine yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops)
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11 pages, 2628 KiB  
Article
Use of In Situ Soil Solution Electric Conductivity to Evaluate Mineral N in Commercial Orchards: Preliminary Results
by Elena Baldi, Maurizio Quartieri, Enrico Muzzi, Massimo Noferini and Moreno Toselli
Horticulturae 2020, 6(3), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6030039 - 8 Jul 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3709
Abstract
The aim of the present experiment was to evaluate the effectiveness of soil electrical conductivity (EC) measurement as a fast tool to assess mineral nitrogen (N) in orchards, in order to define precise N inputs that can help farmers to reduce useless fertilizer [...] Read more.
The aim of the present experiment was to evaluate the effectiveness of soil electrical conductivity (EC) measurement as a fast tool to assess mineral nitrogen (N) in orchards, in order to define precise N inputs that can help farmers to reduce useless fertilizer application. During one vegetative season, seven orchards of different species, supplied with mineral or organic fertilization, were monitored. Nitrate soil concentration was measured monthly by laboratory analyses, while soil EC and moisture were recorded continuously by soil probes. Nitrate and EC were positively correlated, laying the foundation for the identification of a fast and reliable index. However, while some dates showed a high Pearson correlation coefficient, no correlation was found for others. The correlation was not affected by type of fertilizer, and was higher in silty-clay-loam than in loam soils. Pooling all of the data, a significant correlation with a Pearson coefficient of 0.75 was found. The soil optimal nitrate N availability was defined by an EC in the range of 0.3 to 0.6 mS cm−1. Although these are only preliminary results, our data are promising, showing a good suitability of soil EC measurement as a means to monitor soil mineral N availability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops)
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20 pages, 3382 KiB  
Article
Genetic Variation in Response to N, P, or K Deprivation in Baby Leaf Lettuce
by Ivan Simko
Horticulturae 2020, 6(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6010015 - 3 Mar 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4371
Abstract
Lettuce harvested at the baby leaf stage is a popular component of mixed salads in ready-to-use packages. Little is known, however, about response of baby leaf lettuce to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilization. Eight lettuce accessions were subjected to five [...] Read more.
Lettuce harvested at the baby leaf stage is a popular component of mixed salads in ready-to-use packages. Little is known, however, about response of baby leaf lettuce to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilization. Eight lettuce accessions were subjected to five fertilization treatments to investigate genetic differences in reaction to N, P, and K fertilization. The control treatment provided optimal levels of macronutrients for plant growth, while other treatments deprived plants of either N, P, or K. Potassium deprivation had no obvious effect on plant weight or composition, apart from substantially decreased potassium content. Nitrogen and phosphorus deprivations, however, extensively decreased fresh weight and affected plant composition. Phosphorus and nitrogen deprivation considerably increased anthocyanin content in red-colored accessions, but anthocyanin was decreased in dark green-colored accessions, indicating differences in regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Correlations between fresh weight, chlorophyll, anthocyanin, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content were substantially affected by selection of datasets used for analyses; some relationships were revealed when analyzed separately by individual treatments, while others were more likely to be detected when analyzed by individual accessions. Absolute (ΔABS) and relative (2ΔREL) parameters described in this study were suitable for detecting over- and underperforming accessions. The ΔABS identified the absolute Lb-fold (logarithm to the base of 2, binary logarithm) change in performance of an accession in a treatment as compared to its performance in control conditions. The 2ΔREL parameter showed relative Lb-fold change for an accession as compared to the overall mean of ΔABS values of all accessions tested in control and treatment conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilization Management of Horticultural Crops)
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