The Inflorescence and Fruit Peduncle as Indicators of Nitrogen Status of the Avocado Tree
A tissue analysis trial for the diagnosis of nitrogen level was performed during the 2001 growing season in Paine County, Metropolitan Region, Chile. Seven-year-old `Hass' avocado (Persea americana Mill.) trees were soil treated with urea at rates of 0, 333, 666, and 999 g N/tree, split in two applications (2 and 4 months after fruit set). Each treatment was applied to three randomly selected trees. Fifty spring flush leaves and fifteen fruit peduncles were taken per tree 4 months after application. Two months later, 70 panicles per tree were taken, and nitrogen concentration in these samples was determined by Kjeldahl digestion. Differences between treatments were better detected in peduncle and inflorescence samples than in leaf samples. The relationship between nitrogen dose and nitrogen concentration in the tissue was R2 = 0.67, 0.65, and 0.56 in peduncle, leaf, and inflorescence, respectively. Consequently, peduncle appears a promising tissue, probably better than leaf, for diagnosing the nitrogen status of avocado trees.