Influence of biochar on the vegetative and generative growth of ‘Meredith’ peach trees

Abstract

Many studies have confirmed positive effect of biochar as a soil conditioner that can increase in a short time the amount of organic matter (SO) and the reserves of organic carbon (OC) in the soil. The use of biochar also contributes to eliminating the effects of soil fatigue, especially in perennial fruit crops. In our study, biochar was applied in the spring of 2014 in the cultivation of one-year-old peach trees of the cultivar Meredith. Biochar, an organic fertilizer, and microbiologically enriched compost were applied to the arable soil layer. In the experiment, three combinations with biochar were used: (1) biochar at 1.6 kg/tree, (2) biochar at 1.6 kg/tree + microbiologically enriched compost at 0.3 kg/tree, (3) biochar at 1.6 kg/tree + an organic fertilizer at 0.2 kg/tree. In the first growing season, no positive changes were found after the use of biochar. The highest number and yield of fruits in 2015 were obtained from the trees that were treated with microbiologically enriched compost, and the lowest in the combination where biochar + organic fertilizer were used to treat the peach trees. In 2016, the largest number of fruits and their greatest weight were re­corded for the trees treated with biochar + organic fertilizer, whereas the control trees produced the lowest yields. The use of biochar with microorganisms and biochar with organic fertilizer improved the vegetative growth of trees compared to the growth of control trees.