Early diagnosis of boron deficiency in chestnut: sellection of plant tissue indicator

Abstract

This study aims to identify a plant tissue indicator to be used in the early diagnosis of B deficiency in chestnut, which provides a tool to decide the correction measures to be applied in time to improve yield. An orchard with apparent B deficiency was selected, and two levels of B fertilization, B0 and B1- 100 g/tree of Granubor (14.6% of B), were applied. In July, when female flowers were in bloom, the following tissues were sampled: expanded leaves, androgynous catkins and female flowers. Leaves were collected again in the normal period (September) and the concentrations of macro- and micronutrients in plant tissues were determined. B content in the tissues collected in July was positively correlated with B contents in leaves sampled in September. Boron concentrations in leaves, irrespective of the sampling period, were correlated with chestnut productivity, while the other tissues did not correlate significantly. These results suggest that leaves, sampled in July, were the most efficient tissue for the early diagnosis of B deficiency.