In sweet cherries, accumulated nitrogen (N) stores from the previous fall support early spring growth. To complement the N supply in the soil, Chilean growers use foliar urea applications after harvest. Information on the effectiveness of foliar N applications in sweet cherry is lacking. To study the canopy distribution of N applied as urea foliar sprays, an experiment using a "Bing"/"Gisela®6" ("GI®6") sweet cherry orchard was carried out in 2009/2010 in Chile (35° 09' 53'' S, 71° 20' 43'' W). The objective was to investigate N distribution and recycling in 3-year-old fruiting branches. A total of 120 branches (one per tree) were labeled using 15N-urea. 15N-urea was applied to the whole branch on four separate dates or treatments (TR) after fruit harvest:... |