Page 493 - FRUTAS DEL TRÓPICO

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soils and nutRient management foR tRopical fRuit tRees

Entisols are about 12.4% of tropics and young usually without genetic horizons except an
A horizon. Because they are less developed, they often are either sandy or rocky. Soils for

tropical fruits in South Florida are typical Entisols.

Inceptisols occupy an estimated 17.43% of tropical region and exhibit minimal horizon

development, but older or more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays,

Fe, Al or organic matter.

Tropical fruits may also grow on other tropical soils with small acreage, such as Vertisols,

Mollisols, and Histosols, and Spodosols.

Soils for tropical fruits in South Florida

The survey conducted several years ago shows eighty-seven percent of tropical fruit trees in

South Florida are grown on Krome very gravelly loam, and Chekika very gravelly loam. Both

soils are typical Entisols and mostly in the Miami-Dade County. Some tropical fruits are also

grown on either marl or the complex of marl and gravelly soils. In Broward County, banana,

carambola, lychee and papaya are grown on organic soils and some growers in Palm Beach
County have carambola, lychee, and longan on Alfisols (Riviera sand).

For tropical fruit trees grown on rocky soils, fifty-nine percent of growers planted their

trees in trenches, 26% planted without trenches and 15% planted some crops in trenches

and some without trenches in Miami-Dade County. Almost all the acreage of avocado was

trenched and over half of mango groves were trenched. The percentage of groves trenched

is approximately 60% for carambola, 80% for lychee, 78% for longan, 50% for banana, 40%

for mamey zapote, and 10% for papaya.

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas