Weed Management, Training, and Irrigation Practices for Organic Production of Trailing Blackberry: III. Accumulation and Removal of Aboveground Biomass, Carbon, and Nutrients

Abstract

<jats:p>Relatively little is known about aboveground nutrient content of organic blackberry, and there is no published work on total carbon (C) content. Treatment effects on biomass, C, and nutrient content, accumulation, and removal were assessed over 2 years in a mature organic trailing blackberry (<jats:italic>Rubus</jats:italic> L. subgenus <jats:italic>Rubus,</jats:italic> Watson) production system that was machine harvested for the processed market. Treatments included two irrigation options (no irrigation after harvest and continuous summer irrigation), three weed management strategies (weed mat, hand-weeded, and nonweeded), and two primocane training times (August and February) in two cultivars (Black Diamond and Marion). Floricanes comprised an average of 45% of the total aboveground plant dry biomass, while primocanes and fruit comprised 30% and 25%, respectively. Depending on the treatment, the total aboveground dry biomass accumulation over the course of the season was 5.0–6.5 t·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> per year, while C stock of the planting was an estimated 0.4–1.1 t·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> in late winter. Carbon accounted for ≈50% of the dry biomass of each aboveground plant part, including primocanes, floricanes, and fruit. Weed management had the largest impact on plant biomass and nutrient content. No weed control reduced aboveground dry biomass, the content of nutrients in the primocanes, floricanes, and fruit, and the annual accumulation of dry biomass and nutrients, whereas use of weed mat resulted in the most dry biomass and nutrient content. Nutrient accumulation was similar between the cultivars, although February-trained ‘Marion’ plants had a greater removal of most nutrients in 2014 than the year prior. The amount of nitrogen (N) removed in the fruit was 22, 18, and 12 kg·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> for weed mat, hand-weeded, and nonweeded plots, respectively, in 2013. In 2014, ‘Marion’ and ‘Black Diamond’ differed in N removed in harvested fruit when grown with weed mat at 18 and 24 kg·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>, respectively, whereas there was no cultivar effect when plants were grown in hand-weeded or nonweeded plots. Plots with weed mat tended to have the most nutrients removed through harvested fruit in both years. In 2014, N removal from August-trained ‘Marion’ was 5 kg·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> N less than the other training time and cultivar combinations. Plants that were irrigated throughout the summer accumulated more dry biomass, N, potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), boron (B), and copper in one or both years than those that received no irrigation after fruit harvest. The irrigation treatment had inconsistent effects on nutrient content of each individual plant part between the two years. Removal of nutrients was often higher than what was applied through fertilization, especially for N, K, and B, which would eventually lead to depletion of those nutrients in the planting.</jats:p>

Individual and Combined Use of Sawdust and Weed Mat Mulch in a New Planting of Northern Highbush Blueberry. II. Nutrient Uptake and Allocation

“…Weed mat mulch alone, particularly black, had the highest levels of soil NO 3 -N. In 2018, there was a trend for sawdust and black weed mat alone to have higher soil NH 4 -N than the other mulches (Table 1). Higher soil NO 3 -N and NH 4 -N were found in blueberry and blackberry under a black weed mat mulch compared with sawdust or bare soil, respectively (Dixon et al, 2016;Larco et al, 2013;Strik et al, 2019), likely a result of higher soil temperatures under the weed mat increasing mineralization of organic matter or nitrification (Larco, 2010). Adding a layer of sawdust under the weed mat reduced soil temperature compared with weed mat alone (Strik et al, 2020), perhaps reducing nitrification as reflected by lower levels of soil NO 3 -N. However, soil NO 3 -N was higher under sawdust mulch than weed mat over sawdust (Table 1), despite the former having the lowest soil temperature (Strik et al, 2020).…”

“…Nutrients are also lost when fruit are harvested, leaves senesce, and plants are pruned. Gains and losses in nutrients have tended to follow the same pattern of DW in blueberry and blackberry (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus, Watson) (Bañados et al, 2012;Bryla et al, 2012;Dixon et al, 2016;Harkins et al, 2014). Fertilizer nutrient requirements are also affected by the reallocation of nutrients within the plant and from decomposition of dying or pruned plant tissues.…”

Pruning and Training Systems Impact Yield and Cold Hardiness of ‘Marion’ Trailing Blackberry

“…While some growers remove the floricanes immediately after the fruiting season, others are experimenting with leaving the dead floricanes within the canopy to save labor. In late August, floricanes contain as much as 20 kg•ha −1 of nitrogen (N) and 10 kg•ha −1 of potassium [30][31][32]. Senescence of the floricanes occurs slowly after fruit harvest.…”

Nutrient sufficiency levels for haskap (Lonicera caeruleaL.) using the boundary-line approach

“…subgenus Rubus Watson (Harkins et al 2014;Dixon et al 2016). For instance, leaf N and Mg have been found to be significantly lower in non-weeded management compared to the use of weed mat (Harkins et al 2014).…”

“…For instance, leaf N and Mg have been found to be significantly lower in non-weeded management compared to the use of weed mat (Harkins et al 2014). According to Dixon et al (2016), non-weeded treatments reduced nutrient content of primocanes, floricanes, and fruits, whereas the use of weed mat resulted in higher nutrient accumulation in blackberry.…”