Pg. 8-9 The Time of Nitrogen Applications to Lychee in Southern Queensland

This paper reports on the study of the effects of time of nitrogen application on productivity of six-year-old Bengal lychee trees in subtropical Queensland, Australia. Treatments were: no nitrogen (control), or nitrogen application in winter or summer, or split between the two periods. Leaf nitrogen concentrations were lower in winter and higher in summer, with winter nitrogen applications. Application in summer gave the reverse pattern. However, these differences in leaf nitrogen were not large enough to affect yield. In contrast, yields of control trees after four years without nitrogen, were about half those of trees receiving nitrogen. These results demonstrate the difficulty in manipulating lychee yields in the field with firtilisers. Application of fertilisers should be supported by the results of tissue analyses, preferably just after panicle emergence.