Apple trees are very popular with gardeners due to their unpretentiousness and ability to produce a bountiful harvest. It is widely believed that fruit trees need to be fed only before flowering, but the autumn feeding of apple trees is equally important.
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Preparation for processing trees
Apple trees must be fertilized before the onset of the first frost so that the trees have time to assimilate nutrients. Frozen soil does not absorb or process substances that come from outside.
The optimal period for feeding is the first 5-7 weeks of autumn, and in regions with a warm climate - October. All work should be completed by November 15th.
The specific terms of the work are determined taking into account the geographical latitude and the average annual temperature.
It is recommended to stop watering fruit trees at the beginning of September in order to increase their frost resistance. Cleaning procedures are an important stage in preparation for feeding. It is necessary to carefully remove mosses and lichens from the trunk, after covering the ground around the tree with paper or film.
Broken, dry and diseased branches are cut from the tree, the cuts are processed with garden pitch. It is advisable to remove and burn the old bark, since harmful insects can live inside it. After that, the apple trees are treated with antiseptic agents to prevent the appearance of mold and mildew. Then the trunks must be whitewashed. Whitewashing protects trees from pests and rodents, as well as the sun's rays reflected by the snow.
Types of fertilizers and feeding methods
The preferred fertilizer type depends on the acidity of the soil. To reduce it, dolomite flour, slaked lime, ash, old plaster, chalk, marl are used. Peat and sawdust contribute to the decrease in alkalinity.
In the fall, fertilizing is carried out with potash and phosphorus fertilizers: bone meal, superphosphate. But you need to be careful with the last remedy, since the nitrogen contained in it can lead to the growth of young shoots and a decrease in the winter hardiness of the plant. Potash fertilizers are applied in a dosage of 20 g per 1 m², and phosphorus fertilizers - in the amount of 35-50 g per 1 m².
The most popular organic fertilizers are humus, manure and humus. They are distributed over the entire area occupied by the root system (its size corresponds to the size of the shadow cast by the tree at noon).
There are two ways to feed apple trees:
- Foliar, in which fertilizers are applied to the trunk and shoots with a spray bottle. Urea is used as a fertilizer, dissolved in water in a proportion of 40 g per 1 liter. Foliar top dressing is considered optional, since the bulk of the nutrients the trees receive through the roots.
- Root, in which top dressing is applied within a radius of 50-60 cm from the trunk. In this zone, the thinnest root outgrowths are located, which absorb the main part of the fertilizer.
Top dressing begins with spraying the trunk with a 2% solution of copper sulfate, then the soil around the trunk is dug up to a depth of no more than 40 cm; the formed depressions are filled with fertilizers, and from above they are covered with soil and a layer of mulch from peat, sawdust and dry leaves.
Have you already planted apple trees in your garden?
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Read about late-ripening varieties of apple trees in the following article:Late-ripening apple varieties: for central Russia and for the Moscow region