Best management practices for nutrient management in berry crops

Best Management Practices for Nutrient Management in Berry Crops

The following best management practices include some common crop production practices and some newer ones. As research progresses, we hope to learn how to fine tune new production systems, in order to capture nutrients get more from each dollar spent on nitrogen, and maintain or improve fruit quality.

Account for nutrients applied in manure

Manure is more than a great source of organic matter, it contains nutrients that should be subtracted from your commercial fertilizer rate. How do you know the nutrient levels in manure? General values are given in OMAFRA Publication #360, page 31. A more accurate way to find out is to send a sample of the manure to a soil testing lab for analysis.

Spring or late fall manure application

In berry crops, use manure in the pre-plant or planting year, but, for food safety reasons, not in the harvesting years . In the pre-plant or planting years, apply manure in the spring, or late fall (mid November). Avoid early fall and winter applications when more nitrogen can be can be lost by leaching. See the Hort Matters article, "Late Fall Applications of Manure".

Manage pre- plant rates of nitrogen carefully

Strawberry plants do not begin to take up nitrogen from the soil until approximately 3 weeks after planting. A single pre-plant application of nitrogen is convenient but may not be as efficient as a split application, or post-plant side dress applications.

Irrigate only to replace soil moisture

Advances in technology have made it easier to monitor soil moisture levels and adjust for changes in crop growth and weather patterns. See "Monitoring Soil Moisture" on the OMAFRA website.

Multiple nitrogen applications

Blueberry growers apply nitrogen in a 3-way split between green tip and early July, to coincide with plant uptake. Research is needed to improve the efficiency of nitrogen applications in raspberries, particularly fall bearing raspberries, which we suspect would benefit from split applications.

Fertigation

Trickle irrigation systems provide a method for applying fertilizers, in small and frequent doses. Although more research is needed, we expect that the overall nitrogen rate can be reduced when using trickle irrigation systems, because fertilizer can be placed only the rooting zone of the plant and not between the rows.

Cover crops

Cover crops can do more than just cover the soil and protect it from erosion. Planted in the year prior to berry establishment, they add vital organic matter to soil which helps to maintain soil structure. Cover crops can also pick up nitrogen from the soil and prevent nitrogen losses.
For more information on cover crops see the OMAFRA website.

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