Boron Deficiency of Apple
Return to Nutrient Disorders
Boron deficiency is found relatively frequently in Kentucky apple foliar analyses, but symptoms are not readily apparent because trees are generally only slightly deficient. Symptoms first show up in fruit as an increase in corking and/or cracking. In more severe cases, fruit size is reduced and fruit may be malformed. Corking from boron and calcium deficiency symptoms are difficult to separate. Severe deficiency symptoms on high pH soils in the western U.S. include death of shoot tips, reduced leaf size, and rosette growth on terminal shoots.
Boron deficiency internal and external symptoms.
(Photo: Mary Ann Hansen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Bugwood.org)
Management:
- Annual foliar sprays of Solubor at pink and petal fall
- Borax applications may be made to soil
