Response of 'White Smith' gooseberry to boron fertilisation under conditions of low soil boron availability

- 'White Smith' gooseberries were fertilised with B.
- Fertigation or soil application of B improved growth, yielding and fruit quality.
- Spring B sprays improved fruit yield.
- Autumn B spray had no effect on response of gooseberries in the following year.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of different B fertiliser strategies on growth, production and fruit quality of 'White Smith' gooseberry (Ribes grossularia L.). The experiment was carried out from 2010 to 2013 on a commercial plantation established in Central Poland in 2006 on a coarse-textured soil with low boron (B) availability. The plants were fertilised with B through: (i) soil application at the bud burst stage at a rate of 1 kg ha−1, (ii) fertigation over 12 weeks at 7 d intervals, beginning at the stage of bud break, at a rate of 0.25 kg ha−1, (iii) spring sprays at 5-7 d before flowering, the beginning of flowering and petal fall at a rate of 0.2 kg ha−1 in each spray treatment, and (iv) autumn spray at 90 d after harvest at a rate of 0.8 kg ha−1. The plants unfertilised with B served as the control. The results showed that the autumn B spray injured leaves but did not affect defoliation and cold injury of buds. This treatment enhanced autumn leaf B status but had no effect either on the B nutrition of the plants in the following growing season or on the vegetative and reproductive responses of the gooseberries. Spring B sprays were able to increase the flower B concentration, fruit set and yielding but had no impact on the summer and autumn leaf B concentrations. Soil application or fertigation of B increased the soil availability of this nutrient, its status in flowers, summer and autumn leaves, and the activity of glutathione reductase in leaves in the summer and the autumn. Plants supplied with B through soil application or fertigation had higher total lengths of one-year-old shoots, set more fruitlets, and produced more berries. The fruit of those plants also contained more soluble solids and organic acids than those of the control plots. The efficiency of soil application or fertigation of B in improving the reproductive response of gooseberry was higher than that of spring B sprays. No B fertiliser treatment affected the number of buds in terms of meter of shoot or weight of 100 berries. On coarse-textured soils with low B availability, annual fertigation or soil application of B at rates that meet the fertiliser needs of gooseberry in the above fertiliser technologies can be recommended to effectively improve growth, fruit yield, and the processing quality of the fruit.