Development, photosynthesis and yield of blueberry cultivar ‘climax’ growth with different substrates and nitrogen fertilization under protected cultivation

Abstract

Organic farming techniques gained popularity recently. Despite this increasing demand, there are still many problems, when comparing nutrient sources in organic and conventional farming systems. The study had as objective to evaluate the development of blueberry plants cultivar ‘Climax’ under protected cultivation in a substrate with different proportions of organic material and doses of applied mineral N. The blueberry nursery plants ‘Climax’ were transplanted into plastic pots and kept under protected cultivation. The soil and sand proportions were 40 and 20%, respectively, of the volume capacity of each pot. The remaining 40% were filled with organic material (bovine manure) and sawdust in the proportions of 5 and 35% (S1), 20 and 20% (S2) or 35 and 5% (S3), respectively. The experimental design was in complete randomized blocks, and the treatments were distributed in a 3x3 factorial arrangement, with six replications. The first factor was the different formulations of substrates. The second factor was N fertilization at 0, 10, and 15 g N plant-1. Evaluations of canopy volume, total leaf area, chlorophyll content and gas exchanges were performed six and eighteen months after transplanting. Fruits were harvested according to their ripening. Higher proportions of organic material in the substrate showed a substantial increase on estimated leaf area, canopy volume, chlorophyll content and clear efficiency of carboxylation (A/Ci), especially in plants that was not fertilized with mineral N. The highest yield was reported for the substrate S2, with intermediary amount of organic material, without the application of mineral N fertilizer. Considering agronomic and physiological traits, blueberry plants on the substrate S2 (20% OM) showed the best results, without mineral N fertilizing, becoming viable the organic management system for potted ‘Climax’ blueberry plants under protected cultivation.