ABSTRACT
The Peach Tree Short Life (PTSL) is a syndrome characterized by a tree collapse at end of dormancy and its causes involve several biotic and abiotic components. The objective of this research was to study if there was association between PTSL and soil fertility. Rhizosphere samples were collected for chemical analysis from two to eight-years-old symptomatic and asymptomatic trees (paired trees), at nine commercial peach orchards located in Pelotas and Canguçu, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, totaling 108 samples. According to the results, discriminate function for classifying trees into two categories (symptomatic or asymptomatic) did not provide satisfactory results because the misclassification rate exceeded 40%. The analysis of variance showed that there is no significant difference in soil fertility between two groups of trees sampled. Although soil fertility, in most orchards sampled, is below than recommended level for peach, the occurrence of PTSL was not associated with soil chemical properties. The present research suggests that other factors such as soil physical properties and the use of non-selected varietal mixtures of scion cultivars as rootstock, may be involved in PTSL.
Index terms
soil pH; soil nutrients; PTSL syndrome; Prunus spp., Rosaceae
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