Abstract
Biochar has gained attention as a promising soil amendment capable of improving soil structure, nutrient retention and plant resilience to stress. However, its performance in perennial horticultural systems, particularly during the early stages of orchard establishment, remains insufficiently documented. This study, conducted in 2021 in a newly established apple orchard (‘Gala Brookfield Baigent’/P 60) in Wieluń, Central Poland, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three methods of using cattle-manure-derived biochar at a dose of 10 t ha−1 (application before ploughing prior to orchard establishment, application to planting holes and surface spreading). Neither tree growth nor fruiting potential were affected by biochar, which made the comparison of its application methods inconclusive. According to the principal component analysis performed, mineral nitrogen showed a tendency to promote the formation of mixed-type buds on short shoots, a propitious growing pattern for intensive orchard management. In contrast, compost fertilisation favoured vegetative growth over generative development, as reflected by the significantly negative coefficient in regression analysis (b = −0.12; 95% CI: −0.25 to –0.00 for the Box-Cox-scaled fruiting-to-growth potential ratio). Nonetheless, the overall growth response of apple trees in the first year after planting to the applied soil-enriching practices was rather modest, with this observation validating the strategy of reducing fertiliser doses during orchard establishment on productive soils maintained in good agricultural condition. Long-term studies under abiotic or nutrient-limiting constraints, as well as the combined use of biochar with microbial inoculants, are recommended to fully elucidate its potential in apple production.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar did not affect apple tree growth.
- Taxon
- Apple Trees
Malus domesticat0 - Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- tree growthe0
- Direction
- Neithere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Apple Trees”
e0“Neither tree growth nor fruiting potential were affected by biochar”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar did not affect apple fruiting potential.
- Taxon
- Apple TreesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- biochare0
- Outcome
- fruiting potentiale0
- Direction
- Neithere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Apple Trees”
e0“Neither tree growth nor fruiting potential were affected by biochar”
Claim · model-written summary
Mineral nitrogen tended to promote mixed-type bud formation on short shoots.
- Taxon
- Apple TreesMalus domesticat0
- Organ / stage
- short shootse0
- Treatment
- mineral nitrogene0
- Outcome
- formation of mixed-type budse0
- Direction
- promotee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Apple Trees”
e0“mineral nitrogen showed a tendency to promote the formation of mixed-type buds on short shoots”
Claim · model-written summary
Compost fertilisation favoured vegetative growth over generative development.
- Taxon
- Apple TreesMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- compost fertilisatione0
- Outcome
- vegetative growthe0
- Direction
- favourede0
- Value
- b = −0.12e0
- Comparator
- generative developmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Apple Trees”
e0“compost fertilisation favoured vegetative growth over generative development, as reflected by the significantly negative coefficient in regression analysis (b = −0.12; 95% CI: −0.25 to –0.00 for the Box-Cox-scaled fruiting-to-growth potential ratio)”
Claim · model-written summary
Overall first-year growth response to soil-enriching practices was modest.
- Taxon
- apple treesMalus domesticae0
- Outcome
- growth responsee0
- Qualifier
- first year after plantinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“overall growth response of apple trees in the first year after planting to the applied soil-enriching practices was rather modest”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors support reducing fertiliser doses during orchard establishment on productive soils.
- Taxon
- Apple TreesMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- reducing fertiliser doses during orchard establishmente0
- Qualifier
- productive soils maintained in good agricultural conditione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Apple Trees”
e0“validating the strategy of reducing fertiliser doses during orchard establishment on productive soils maintained in good agricultural condition”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · growth · Malus domestica (apple)Positive and negative results
2 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.