The Influence of Biochar, Slow-Release Molasses, and an Organic N:P:K Fertilizer on Transplant Survival of Pyrus communis ‘Williams’ Bon Chrétien’

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

The influence of soil amendments on growth, tree vitality, and mortality of Pyrus communis ‘Williams’ Bon Chrétien’ in Year 1.

Treatment	Tree vitality			Growth
Treatment	SPAD	PI	Pn	Fruit yield/tree (kg)	Crown volume	Mortality (%)
Control (no amendment)	38.7	6.2	4.01	5.8	0.60	20
Molasses pellets	42.3^ns	7.1*	4.45^ns	6.1^ns	0.68^ns	0
Biochar	44.5^ns	8.2*	4.48^ns	6.6^ns	0.77*	0
BOOST Organic granular	49.9*	8.2*	4.56^ns	6.8*	0.77*	0
BOOST Organic granular + biochar	50.8*	10.0*	4.66^ns	7.2*	0.88*	0
BOOST Organic granular + molasses pellets	47.9*	7.4*	4.38^ns	6.7*	0.72*	0
Molasses pellets + biochar	47.1*	9.4*	4.61^ns	7.0*	0.81*	0
BOOST Organic granular + molasses pellets + biochar	50.3*	11.1*	4.50^ns	6.8*	0.76*	0

Notes: All values mean of surviving trees from an initial number of 10. Asterisk (*) = significant differences between means (P = 0.05). P < 0.05 are considered significant based on Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test. SPAD = estimated leaf chlorophyll content, PI = chlorophyll fluorescence, Pn = light-induced CO₂ fixation.

Table 2.

The influence of soil amendments on growth, tree vitality, and mortality of Pyrus communis ‘Williams’ Bon Chrétien’ in Year 2.

Treatment	Tree vitality			Growth
Treatment	SPAD	PI	Pn	Fruit yield/tree (kg)	Crown volume	Mortality (%)
Control (no amendment)	41.5	4.0	3.90	4.5	0.71	0
Molasses pellets	41.3^ns	4.6^ns	4.22^ns	6.0*	0.82^ns	0
Biochar	45.5^ns	6.2*	4.50*	6.2*	0.95*	0
BOOST Organic granular	52.3*	7.5*	4.62*	7.8*	0.84*	0
BOOST Organic granular + biochar	55.8*	7.7*	4.48*	7.8*	0.90*	0
BOOST Organic granular + molasses pellets	50.9*	7.0*	4.46*	7.2*	0.82*	0
Molasses pellets + biochar	48.8*	6.1*	4.60*	5.9*	0.87*	0
BOOST Organic granular + molasses pellets + biochar	51.1*	6.9*	4.39*	6.6*	0.83*	0

Notes: All values mean of surviving trees from an initial number of 10. Asterisk (*) = significant differences between means (P = 0.05). P < 0.05 are considered significant based on Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test. SPAD = estimated leaf chlorophyll content, PI = chlorophyll fluorescence, Pn = light-induced CO₂ fixation.