Subscriber of the vineyard: FÓSFORO in the Vineyard (P).

Phosphorus is of vital importance in the fertilization of the vineyard. Knowing its characteristics, properties and necessary doses will help us make the right decisions.

2- Properties:

• It is of great importance in the metabolism of carbohydrates.
• It favors root development increasing resistance to drought.
• It dampens the effects of an excess of nitrogen and influences the fertilization, the maturation and the good drying of the wood.
• Decreases sensitivity to bleeding and cryptogamic diseases.

3- Effects on the vine plant:

1. It is considered a quality factor in vineyards that produces balanced musts.
2. The most intense absorption takes place from budding to flowering.
3. In general, it is considered as a regulator of plant development .
4. It is attributed a role in the evolution of the fruits.
5. Phosphorus favors the development of the roots , which is why it is essential in the installation of plants during the first years after planting.

4- Phosphorus in the soil:

It is a very non-mobile element and can be found, in the soil solution, absorbed by the clay-humic complex, bound to organic matter or blocked and not available.

Of all these forms, only the dissolved form and the one absorbed in the humic clay complex intervene in the immediate fertilization of the vineyard.

5- Needs of phosphorous fertilizer in vineyards:

The subscriber needs of the vineyard are highly variable and can range between 100 and 200 UF / ha per year , depending on the nutritive level of the soil and the richness in limestone, for a given production.

It is in the plantation where the levels of phosphorus in the soil must be adjusted, taking advantage of the depth to locate it in depth. This will facilitate the rooting of the plants and will ensure, in the long term, sufficient nutrition for several years, even throughout the life of the vine.

In rich soils , where the soil reserve in assimilable P is sufficient, the fundamental role of phosphate fertilizer is to compensate for exports and losses due to the evolution of P2O5. It is a maintenance or restitution subscriber.

In poor soils , the phosphate fertilizer has the role of covering the needs of the on-site vineyard and of contributing to progressively enrich the soil, it is the recovery fertilizer of a plantation.

6- The phosphorus deficiencies in the vineyard subscriber:

Phosphorus deficiencies are not very common. In case of appearance, it causes a lower development and fertility of the buds and an incomplete withering of the wood, which produces a greater sensitivity to frost.

In the image you can see the effects of phosphorus deficiency in the vineyard.