At a glance:
- Low levels of Mycorrhizal Fungi means fewer soil minerals are reaching your plants.
- Low moisture levels also mean fewer soil minerals are reaching your plants.
- We are seeing Calcium deficient Avocado crops, meaning poor quality fruit and short shelf life.
- You can’t tell plant nutrition levels unless you do a leaf tissue test (soil test won’t show plant deficiencies).
- Deficiencies can be rectified quickly (even in dry conditions) by applying highly absorbable foliar minerals, and in the longer term inoculating your avocado trees with Mycorrhizal fungi.
- A cheap Calcium product can prove to be very expensive if it doesn’t work, so choose wisely with Glycine chelated, systemic Biomin Calcium.
The longer version:
Mycorrhizae are fungal species that live in symbiosis with plant roots and play an important role in supplying soil nutrients and water to trees as they grow.
Modern farming practices have reduced the amount of Mycorrhizae in the soil, thus reducing the capacity of plants to uptake nutrients and water from the soil.
Soil also needs moisture to transport nutrients to the plants, and with recent dry seasons, combined with the low levels of Mycorrhizal fungi, we are seeing more nutrient deficiencies in Avocado trees.
Calcium (Ca) deficiency in particular is strongly affecting avocado fruit texture and shelf life.
Avocados that are deficient in Ca are often rubbery inside, take longer to ripen and once picked they go rotten quickly.
With the dry soil you could be forgiven in thinking that any Calcium applied will be wasted as without the moisture, plant uptake will be limited. Which is correct, unless you use a highly bioavailable foliar product, such as BIOMIN Calcium.
Or, perhaps a plant electrolyte applied to your soil can mitigate the low moisture levels and help translocation of trapped soil minerals to help them reach your plants.
Don’t waste your fertiliser! Make sure it is getting to your plant and helping you to produce high-quality fruit.
In the longer term, you want to be adding more Mycorrhizal fungi back into the soil for tree inoculation, which in turn will ensure your soil-applied minerals are being utilised as efficiently as possible.
Interested in learning more about the benefits of BIOMIN Calcium? See our product information sheet here.
