Abstract:

In order to solve the problem of low water and nutrient conserving capacity of sandy soil，five-year-old Fuji/Malus hupeheusis Rehd. was taken as material to study the effects of biochar and compost on soil water and nutrient conserving capacity and apple growth. The results showed the percentage of high quality fruit，single apple fruit weight and apple yield of biochar combined with chemical fertilizer were 70.21%，261.92 g and 59.62 kg，respectively，increasing by 43.40%，15.21% and 36.06%，respectively，compared with the single hole application of chemical fertilizer treatment（control）. The content of fruit soluble solids and vitamin C increased by 7.10% and 30.30%，respectively. Biochar combined with chemical fertilizer increased soil available nitrogen，available potassium，being 153.58 and 142.2 mg ? kg-1，respectively，which increased by 15.69% and 33.27%，compared with the conventional fertilization treatment. On the third days after precipitation，soil water content of biochar application was 36.65% and 27.92% higher than that of upper and lower soil layers respectively. After one month evaporation，the soil water was still 56.65% and 45.79% higher than the upper and lower soil layers，respectively. The results showed that the combination of biochar and chemical fertilizer had significant effects on soil water，nutrient content，yield and quality of apple fruit in sandy soil.

Key words: apple, biochar, sandy soil, yield, quality