Kiwi

Home Fertilization Guide Kiwi

Kiwi trees have a high need for nitrogen, potassium and calcium. The sufficiency of the above macroelements is particularly important in order to ensure the balanced vegetative growth of the plants as well as the high annual production of high quality fruits and post-harvest capacity (>4 tons per acre).

Successful management of a kiwifruit orchard depends on understanding the developmental phases of the kiwifruit (shoot, root and fruit) so that fertilizers and the necessary agricultural practices can be applied at the ideal time for the crop.

In this way, the utilization of the necessary nutrients needed by the plants is increased dramatically, as the addition of these nutrients is synchronized with the needs of the plants during the annual phenological cycle of the trees-stumps.

Large amounts of certain elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are taken up in increased quantities even in young plants as they are essential for optimal establishment and rapid growth of plants in the orchard.

For kiwifruit, the period of greatest accumulation of potassium, nitrogen, zinc and copper occurs during the early stages of the season, with more than 80% of the maximum amount of these elements accumulating in the leaves of mixed shoots bearing fruits before fruit setting.

Comparatively smaller amounts of potassium and nitrogen are accumulated by the leaves on the non-fruiting (gluttonous) shoots during the same growth period. This practically signals the need for the plants to add the above elements in time to avoid nutrient deficiencies. Fertilization of kiwifruit trees is recommended to be carried out gradually during the growing season.