The planning of nutritional programming in citrus requires the evaluation of nutrient availability through soil and leaf analysis and also considers the yield expectancy and the nutrient exportation by the harvest. Nitrogen (N) availability has not being efficiently evaluated by soil analysis and for this reason leaf-N has being used as a guide to N recommendation in some areas with citrus growers. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity of the chlorophyll indirect measurement as a method to monitor N status of citrus trees. A field trial was conducted in Reginópolis, State of São Paulo - Brazil, during two consecutive years, with Valencia and Hamlin trees, both grafted on citrumelo Swingle rootstock. The treatments consisted of five nitrogen rates applied by fertigation: 0, 35, 70, 140 and 280 kg ha-1 of N as ammonium nitrate. All plots were adequately supplied with phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients also by fertigation. The chlorophyll indirect measurement was evaluated through the SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter in recent mature leaves (3th and the 4th leaves), in the four tree quadrants at the medium of tree height. The same leaves were used to assess leaf N concentration. SPAD readings and leaf N concentrations showed quadratic trends when plotted against N rates. A correlation of 0.95 (p < 0.05) was observed between the chlorophyll indirect measurement and leaf N concentration. During the different tree development stages, SPAD readings varied by 11 units, while leaf-N variation was 5 g kg-1. SPAD readings below 70 and above 75 were respectively related to very N responsive and non N responsive trees, while trees with intermediate reading values should be supplied with N rates close to those removed by harvest. Based on the results of two successive seasons, it is concluded that the chlorophyll indirect measurement can be used as a fast and non-destructive tool to monitor and to assess nitrogen availability in citrus plants.
citrus; chlorophyll meter; leaf-N; nitrogen availability
