Soil-water Excess Determines Land Favorability for Some Apple and Plum Tree Cultivars Grafted on Low-Vigor Rootstocks

• Published in: Erwerbsobstbau Vol. 65; no. 5; pp. 1393 - 1402
• Main Authors: Paltineanu, Cristian, Chitu, Emil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Cultivars; Excess water; Fruit trees; Global warming; Growing season; Landforms; Life Sciences; Moisture content; Orchards; Original Article; Originalbeitrag; Plant Sciences; Rootstocks; Sensors; Soil depth; Soil horizons; Soil water; Soils; Trees; Vigor; Waterlogging; Soil matric potential; ‘Topaz’ cultivar; Anthrosol; ‘Stanley’ cultivar; Aric-gleyic
• ISSN: 0014-0309; 1439-0302
• DOI: 10.1007/s10341-023-00877-w

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the water excess type and duration from some orchard soils affected by gleyzation, where the excess is expressed in soil matric potential (SMP) units (kPa), as well as to assess the excess water effect and land favorability for some fruit trees grafted on low-vigor rootstocks. The two soils studied are gleyic-aric Anthrosols. The land was planted with plum tree and apple tree orchards. Three profiles of SMP sensors were installed at four soil depths: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 m and were connected to dataloggers to store data. The measuring range of the sensors was between 0 and 200 kPa, and the duration of the experiment was two growing seasons. It was found that the deep soil horizons affected by gleyzation were under water excess most of the year; however, the water excess was not uniform in time. Soil horizons affected by longer excess had the largest area of bluish-purple color. For greater accuracy, when characterizing waterlogging soils, the matric potential should be stated. Unlike moderate-to-weak water excess, severe soil-water excess of 0 to −10 kPa SMP seems to badly affect trees. Based on SMP measurements, land rating coefficients need to be revised for low-vigor rootstock trees on waterlogging soils. These results can be used in choosing land for orchards. The finding shows the need for further research in light of global warming. These results might be also used for similar landform, soil and climate conditions in various regions and countries.