Diagnostic leaf analysis for stone fruit. 2. Seasonal changes in the leaf composition of peach

Abstract

Changes in the nutrient-element composition of leaves of peach cvs. Golden Queen, Gaum6, and Halehaven were measured monthly during the 1971 -72 and 1972-73 seasons in New South Wales. For all cultivars, the rate of change of leaf composition was least during January and February. Thus leaf composition standards should be based on January-February samples and diagnostic sampling should be confined to this period where possible. Correction factors for adjusting the composition November, December and March samples back to January 31 levels were calculated from polynomials with time fitted to the leaf composition data.