Amendments for soil health in top fruit
This field lab aims to investigate how the addition of different soil amendments affects soil health in fruit production systems.
Show MoreThis field lab is being run as part of GREATsoils (Growing Resilient, Efficient and Thriving Soils), a programme funded by AHDB Horticulture to inspire and support growers to assess and manage the health of their soils. http://horticulture.ahdb.org.uk/great-soils
Many growers are already using green waste compost or composted woodchip to add fertility and organic matter to their soils. There are also a range of products being promoted to boost the health of soils. Working out not only which of these will have an impact and assessing which give the best value for money is tricky.
This group of growers has decided to undertake a field lab as part of the AHDB GREAT soils CP107b project to do some initial trials of currently available options.
Included in the trial are :
• Woodchip
• Biochar
• Green waste compost
• Bio-stimulant
• Mycorrhizae
Participants are interested in a variety of outcomes including:
• Soil structure
• Weed control
• Soil PH
• Water retention and drainage
• Tree establishment
• Fruit quality
• Fruit storability
• Yield
Growers will try the various diversity of soil amendment materials according to their own individual recommendations, and then adapt them for the different fruit systems. This is a farmer led trial experiment not a scientific experiment. the researcher will talk individually to each grower to advise on trial design.
This field lab is part of the AHDB funded GREATSoils project.