Excess or deficiency of N have deleterious effects on apple yield and fruit quality. Since the rate of N uptake by apple trees depends on crop requirement within the season and on N available in the soil, it is important to know the need for supplemental N addition and the best application time. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of timing of N application to the soil on fruit yield of apple cultivars. The experiments, one for 'Gala' and other for 'Fuji', were conducted from 1990 to 1996 in an orchard planted in 1988, with a density of 1481 trees ha-1, in an Oxisol with pH of 6.9, 4,0% of organic matter, and 60% of clay. Nitrogen treatments (50kg ha-1 year-1 during the first three growing seasons, and 60kg ha-1 year-1 afterwards) were applied at bud break (BB), or at petal fall (PF), or split 2/3 at BB + 1/3 at PF, or 2/3 at PF + 1/3 thirty-days later, always broadcast over the soil surface, without incorporation, in a 2-m-wide strip in the planting row. There was also a treatment without N addition. Average annual fruit yield varied from 40 to 112t ha-1 for 'Gala', and from 38 to 84t ha-1 for 'Fuji', and in the entire period it was 35% greater for 'Gala' than for 'Fuji'. Application of N to the soil, regardless of timing, had no effect on fruit yield, on N content in the leaves, and on canopy growth of both cultivars, in any year evaluated. It was assumed that N released from soil organic matter decay was sufficient to promote normal growth and high fruit productivity for these two apple cultivars.
apple nutrition; nitrogen; 'Fuji'; 'Gala'
