THE CONTENT OF CHLOROPHYLL AND NUTRIENTS IN APPLE LEAVES DEPENDING ON LONG-TERM FERTILISER

An indicator of the condition of plants, depending on the growing conditions, is the state of their leaf apparatus, which is described by the content of chlorophyll and nutrients in the leaf. The leaf of an apple-tree provides synthesis of organic substances, productivity of fruit trees depends on features of its vital activity. As a method of diagnosing the mineral nutrition of fruit crops, the chemical analysis of the leaves is important, the indicators of which reflect the levels of plant nutrients. The results of studies of chlorophyll content and nutrients in the leaves of apple trees of Calville Blanc d'hiver on seed and Idared on seed and vegetative M4 rootstocks in re-grown plantations on mineral nutrition, created by long-term (over 86 years) application of various systems of comfort podzolized soil. Long-term use of organic and organo-mineral fertiliser systems contributed to an increase in chlorophyll content (a + b) in the leaves of Idared apple trees on seed and clone M4 rootstocks and Calville Blanc d'hiver on seed rootstock at different age periods of growth and fructification, which conditioned their further productivity. The content of macronutrients in the leaves of the studied cultivar combinations depended on the age of plantations and fertiliser options. In the most productive period of fructification in the leaves of Idared trees on seed and vegetative rootstocks, the nitrogen content in the areas of fertiliser options was within optimal limits. Among the studied rootstocks in the variant without fertilisers, the highest nitrogen content in the leaves was described by trees on the seed rootstock. In the leaf of the Calville Blanc d'hiver variety, the nitrogen content on the seed rootstocks in the studied variants was within the optimal range, and among the fertiliser variants the highest was for the application of mineral fertilisers. The content of phosphorus and potassium in the leaves of the trees of the studied rootstock combinations in the areas of fertiliser variants was within optimal limits.