Effects of Successive Top-Dressing Application of Lime on a Sweet Cherry Orchard in Southern Chile

Annual top-dressing application of agricultural lime is a common practice in fruit orchards on acidic soils in southern Chile, which could result in surface over-liming and base imbalances. A trial was performed in a cherry orchard with an 8-year history of surface liming to evaluate the effectiveness of lime materials in neutralizing acidity in the soil profile and the effect on the tree nutritional status. No-lime (NL), calcitic (AgL), hydrated (HL), and liquid (LL) lime treatments were applied on soil surface at commercial rates, and soil acidity variables were measured at depths of 0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm in samples collected at 0, 15, 30, 60, and 225 days after application. Tree nutritional status was evaluated through foliar analysis. Top-dressing application of AgL was ineffective in ameliorating subsoil acidity at depths >5 cm, even in high-rainfall conditions. HL did not exhibit greater alkalinity mobility compared to AgL, although it had a faster but shorter-lived reaction. At the manufacturer-recommended rates, LL application was ineffective. After 8 years of top-dressing liming with AgL, a significant stratification of soil pH, Al, and Ca was observed. However, foliar concentration of bases did not reflect the surface Ca accumulation in soil, discarding an antagonistic cation competition for tree uptake.