Care of the apple tree
In the autumn the aisles are dug. Since it is necessary to maintain the fertility of the soil, organic and phosphorus-potassium mineral fertilizers contribute.
With the approach of frosts, the soil of the near-trunks is mulched with humus, peat, compost. Trees hills, their trunks are tied with spruce branches( tops) downwards for protection against damage by hares and mouse-shaped rodents. Sometimes used for this purpose cane, strips of parchment( straw and tole are unfit).Tree trunks under the age of 5 years are whitewashed with a solution of chalk, and older ones are lime mortar( 3 kg freshly lime, 1 kg clay per 10 liters of water).In the solution, you can add 2 cups of skim milk, 100 g of heated joinery glue, 500 g of copper sulfate. Place the poisoned lures into the burrows. In the thaw, it is necessary to trample the snow around the trees several times. During the whole winter it is necessary to protect the garden from hares, to renew baits. To protect the garden from rodents is necessary at least four years in the course of 5 years, until the bark of trees grows stronger and coarsens.
Figure: 9. Formation of the crown of young trees. The dashed branches represent the removed branches of the
. Young trees need to annually form crowns, striving to make it strong, compact, well-lit, easy to care for. A tree with a properly formed crown is earlier in fruiting, more
is harvested, durable and frost-hardy than not pruned. Apple trees are planted with two-year-old trees, which have only the base of the crown laid. Early in the spring, before swelling of the kidneys, the first pruning is carried out for the second year after planting. It is necessary to restore the correspondence between the above-ground part of the seedlings and the root system damaged during transplantation, as well as for the formation of the crown, started in the nursery, and for the strengthening of growth.
It is mandatory to prune the vertical shoot to limit the height of the tree and to form lateral shoots. A well developed tree is usually left with a vertical shoot( conductor, leader) 40 cm long, counting from the base of the upper skeletal branch( the main branch that leaves directly from the trunk).The seedling forms 8 skeletal branches( in varieties with a pyramidal crown they should be less).All other shoots are shortened to a length of 15 cm. They first serve to thicken the trunk, and subsequently turn into fruit twigs. Pruning should be done on the outer or inner( for varieties with a branching crown) kidney, slightly inclined, not cutting too much wood above the kidney, but without leaving the hemp. Within four to five years, you can create the basic skeleton of the
crown. Every spring( before the buds swelling), last year's growth on the branches is cut to one-third of its length. Such pruning promotes the formation of fruit branches and stimulates growth.
For proper formation of tree crowns, the following basic rules must be fulfilled: the lower skeletal branches are poorly trimmed, the upper ones stronger, the strongly developed lateral branches stronger than the weak ones;if the skeletal branches are equal in strength of development, then the lower ones are cut off weaker than the upper ones. The degree of shortening of shoots depends on the varietal characteristics, the strength of growth and development of a particular tree. Stimulate pruning growth should be in moderation, so that it does not delay the fruiting.
The skeletal branches forming the base of the crown are located one from another at a distance of up to 15 cm and move away from the trunk at an obtuse angle, and the trunk rises above all the main branches.
All shoots that grow on the bends of branches, and branches that run vertically upwards, if they are not needed to form the crown, are cut out completely - on the ring( the ring is a thickened place at the base of the branch).If the branches are cut correctly on the ring, the wounds usually overgrow very quickly. Sections above 2 cm in diameter are covered with garden putty or clay bricks.
Along with the described widespread system of crown formation, other methods can be recommended. In the northern and eastern regions of the North-West it is useful to use the stans used in Siberia, and in areas with favorable conditions for growing apple trees, along with volumetric crowns, flat, small( spindle-spindle-bush, flat-different palmettes).
Trimming, bending, tilting, weaving branches create continuous fruit walls. Varieties are grafted on high-growth, slaboroslyh, clonal and seminal stock, use stamping agents( in the crown of a sustainable variety graft tested).In addition to pruning and pruning branches in the garden gardens, they are used to garter them, deflecting them with wooden struts in order to correct the wrongly formed crown, to strengthen growth or fruiting. They also use the summer( July) pruning, prischipku growing shoots, bending them to a drooping or horizontal position( which strengthens the fruiting), the breakage of excess shoots, tops and roots.
Early in the spring, apple trees are removed from the apple trees, and the whitewash is renewed. When the earth thaws, the young apple trees are bored, so that the
does not re-bark. It happens that rabbits gnaw apple tree trunks( in the form of a closed ring).Then the inoculation is done by a "bridge" or the trunk of the
is cut off. Fig. Inoculation by the bridge: a - damaged tree;b - tree prepared for vaccination;c - grafted tree;g - inoculated shoots;g - inoculation with thickets;e - grafting with a piece of bark
at the lower border of the damage, trimming the cut with a garden knife, covered with garden wax or natural linseed oil. If the sleeping buds of the injured stem begin to grow and by the fall give a significant increase, then a new crown is formed from the growing shoots.
When inoculating with a "bridge", the cuttings are inserted behind the bark at several places along the circumference of the trunk at one end below, and the other above the wound.
Fig. Inoculation by the bridge: a - damaged tree;b - tree prepared for vaccination;c - grafted tree;g - inoculated shoots;g - inoculation with thickets;e - grafting with a piece of bark
at the bottom of the lesion, trimming the cut with a garden knife, covered with garden wax or natural linseed oil. If the sleeping buds of the injured stem begin to grow and by the fall give a significant increase, then a new crown is formed from the growing shoots.
When inoculating the "bridge", the cuttings are inserted behind the bark at several places along the circumference of the trunk at one end below, and the other above the wound.
Then place the inoculation with an insulating or polyethylene tape and cover with garden putty, cover with wet moss and wrap with burlap. If the mice have eaten apple tree trunks and damaged in good time, the trees, as a rule, can be saved by covering the wounds in time. Mice gnaw only the bark and almost do not affect the cambium, that is, the tissue through which nutrients travel and which provides healing of paradise.
Combined stems are smeared with putty from clay, mullein and lime, garden wax or plasticine, strapped around with shaking. Shriveled corrupted places are covered with a new bark.
To control weeds, we use herbicides( diuron, dalapon, etc.).Early in the spring, before emergence of weeds, the soil is sprayed with a solution of 80% wettable powder of di-damage at a concentration of 0.6%( 60 g per 1 liter of water), the rate of application of the preparation is 30 g per 100 m2.On shoots of weeds( preferably with good soil moisture), 85% soluble powder of dalapone can be used. It is used no later than 30 days before the collection of fruits in places where weeds develop in orchards not less than three or four rechlets at a concentration of 1%( 100 g per Yule of water).When the soil dries, make fertilizer and when
step to digging in the near-barren circles. Along with mineral fertilizers on insufficiently fertile soils( and if organic fertilizers have not been introduced in autumn), compost a compost( 10 kg per 1 m) around the tree at a distance of 20 cm from the stem. If mineral fertilizers are applied, then 50 g of nitrogenous fertilizers, 4 m diameter - 200 g, etc., are sufficient for a young tree with a diameter of 1 m of a stock circle, etc.
It is necessary to try to spread fertilizers along the circumference of the trunks and immediately dig up the soil so that they fall intolayer, where the urine roots are located, actively absorbing nutrients. Garden forks at a digging put an edge to a tree, on radius of a trunks circle. If you put them wide side to a tree, then you can severely damage the roots. The depth of digging the soil near the trunk should not exceed 12 cm, it gradually increases to the periphery of the trunks circle and can reach up to 20 cm at a distance of 1.5 m from the trunk. After fertilization and digging, the trunks are mulched with peat or humus to preserve moisturein the soil and drown out the weeds. Despite this, you often have trunks in the summer 2 times and more hoe and, if required( with the increase
less than 40 cm), conduct Zdokredmki. Feed the apple tree before and after flowering, since all the autumn stocks the tree spends on flowering. Mineral fertilizers( solution or dry) or slurry( 1 part per 3 parts of water) are introduced into grooves to a depth of 20 cm before flowering, immediately after flowering and 4 weeks after it. A 5-year-old tree requires 3 buckets of mortar, 10 buckets for 6 buckets. Top dressing is best done after rain or watering. Mineral fertilizers are made by two fertilizing: the first is in July, when flowering buds are laid, nitrogen-potassium at the rate of 3 kg of nitrogen and 5 kg of potassium per hundred parts, the second - in a month( in August) phosphorus-potassium - 6 kg per hundred square meters. Weakened trees at the beginning of vegetation are additionally given non-root fertilizing, preferably in a cool weather with a 0.5% solution of urea( 50 g per 10 liters of water).After 2 weeks, the dressing is repeated, after 2 weeks, it is repeated once more. In addition, on weakened flowering young trees, it is desirable to remove( or thin out) the flowers in order to reduce fruiting and enhance growth and generality. One fruit must account for at least 30 leaves. Then, in young trees, only 20% of flowers turn into ovaries and future fruits( and less than 10% in fruit-bearing
).If the lining of the tree is weak, the fruit is formed even less;can and all the ovary crumble.
In dry summer, especially on sandy soils, apple trees should be watered until the buds blossom, 20 days after the end of flowering, 20 days before harvest and during leaf fall, but not during ripening( fruits from excess moisture crack).
Regular fertilization is necessary to ensure normal growth and fruiting of fruit trees.
If there is a shortage of nitrogen in the soil, the fruit trees grow poorly, the leaves become yellow, the ovaries fall apart, despite the good pollination of the flowers. The lack of phosphorus leads to poor formation of fruit buds, and the fruits do not acquire the proper color. With a lack of potassium, young shoots and kidneys do not develop well. Calcium is required for plants with various intracellular processes and serves to neutralize plant acids in plant tissues, and also goes for the construction of ossicles in fruits.
To provide fruit plants with all the necessary elements of nutrition, organic and mineral fertilizers contribute.
As an organic fertilizer, manure and various kinds of composts are introduced.
Manure is contributed annually. The rate of application can be brought up to 60 kg per hundred square meters, in this case manure is brought in a year, alternating with mineral fertilizers. Manure is brought in autumn under autumn plowing separately or with mineral fertilizers: superphosphate 4 kg per hundred and potassium salt 3.5 kg per hundred. Nitrogenous mineral fertilizers are superficially applied in two terms - early in the spring before the beginning of growth and in the first half of the growing season, at the rate of: ammonium nitrate 3 kg per hundred, and ammonium sulfate 5 kg per hundred.
Phosphoric and potash fertilizers in a fruit-bearing garden are embedded in specially excavated grooves to a depth of up to 40 cm along the circumference of the stock circle.
Fertilizers are applied in liquid form: cow dung, diluted with water 10 times, slurry - 3 times. Under one fruit tree, you should make up to 20 buckets of liquid organic fertilizer, 10 buckets at the beginning of flowering and 5 buckets at the end of June and the beginning of July. In a liquid organic fertilizer add mineral fertilizer to 30 g per bucket.
In acidic soils, lime is added in an amount of 2 to 8 kg per weave, depending on the degree of acidity of the soil.
Care for fruit trees ensures the uniform distribution of fruit formations along the crown, preservation of the trunk and branches in a healthy state and, thereby, increased yield and lengthening of the productive period in the life of fruit trees. In case of damage to the trunk or branches, various methods of treatment are used, and when they are aged, they are rejuvenated. Prevent damage to trees by frost, protect against diseases and pests.
For the correct implementation of measures for the care of fruit trees , it is necessary to know the biology of fruit trees, which enables the gardener to correctly apply these or other care methods. This is especially true for pruning, as well as for vaccination, re-vaccination and rejuvenation of fruit trees, where great care is required in performing work in view of the condition of the trees.
When caring for the crown, the cutting time and the method of pruning, depending on the age and varietal characteristics of the fruit trees, are of great importance. Apply pruning, or shortening, and thinning.
When pruning, remove whole branches;distinguish: 1) thinning of growth branches;2) thinning of fruit branches( pads).
Pruning of annual shoots promotes the formation of side shoots and the thickening of branches. Thanks to the annual pruning of annual shoots, the crown of the plant becomes compact, with thicker basic twigs.
Without pruning, the buds at the base of the shoots remain asleep, and the shoots themselves are leafless on a large part. With a strong growth of shoots without trimming, the crown turns out to be a shin, and when the branch is bent, branches can break under the weight of the fruit.
Pruning of annual shoots is used at the beginning of fruiting and in case of strong growth.
Young fruiting trees are usually not trimmed, and if cut off, it is weak. At the fruit tree for 12 years there is a large number of branches, and the crown of the tree reaches the full force of development. The abandonment of trees without pruning provides them with a strong growth and development of a powerful root system. Only the removal( thinning) of the branches is applied, which prevent the main branches of the tree from developing.
Shortening of annual shoots in apple varieties that bear fruit on wood before
of the year can lead to a very strong crop reduction.
This kind of fruiting on young branches has varieties of Lithuanian pepin, robin, to a certain extent cinnamon and many wild species, especially Siberian and Chinese apple trees and close to them by type of cultivated variety.
As the fructification on the wood of the previous year determines mainly the annual yields, all the care methods that help to lay fruit buds on long shoots ensure high yields.
Trimming such varieties is reduced mainly to the thinning of the branches, so as not to disturb the established type of fruiting.
Varieties of moulins and abundant fruiting on fruit branches 4 to 10 mm in length;fruit twigs of a shorter length do not form fruit buds or form them very rarely. On the other hand, very long fruit branches( from 200 to 500 mm) form strong terminal fruit buds. Fruit twigs of 10 mm bear fruit in a year and very rarely every year, so it is necessary to take measures to ensure the replacement of fruiting fruit.
As a measure to create a certain ratio of fruit-bearing and non-
fruit-bearing fruit branches, it is recommended that the crop be poorly pruned a year in order to stimulate growth, and nitrogen fertilizers should be introduced early in the spring, until the outlet growth is complete.
Adult fruiting trees with weakened growth should be pruned, which would cause the growth of the terminal and lateral branches. Simultaneously with pruning, improved soil care is applied, organic and mineral fertilizers are introduced, and all measures to combat diseases and pests are carefully carried out.
Embossing( pruning for 6-year-old wood) is performed when the growth at the trees has stopped or is completely absent.
Rejuvenation of fruit trees is performed during the period of cessation of growth and yield reduction. Rejuvenation, performed by trimming the branches more than half their length, leads to the formation of numerous, powerfully developed shoots, from which form a new crown. When rejuvenating, it is recommended to cut not all branches at once, but several branches annually, in order to avoid a disruption of the relationship between the above-ground part of the fruit trees and their root system.
Branch thinning is used mainly at the beginning of the fruiting period in those cases,
when branches cross and interfere with each other's development. With the weakening of the growth of fruit-bearing trees, thinning is replaced by shortening the branches, and the degree of trimming increases with the age of the fruit-bearing trees.
Thinning of fruit branches is produced in case of insufficient development of the leaf surface in comparison with the number of fruits formed. The relative predominance of fruit branches and their thickening leads to the melting of the fruit.
Thin the pads and when close to their location and when crossing.
Along with the thinning of the fetuses, they are shortened, while the number of their branches decreases. Thinning and pruning of old fruit pads is performed in order to stimulate their growth.
Pruning and thinning in the north are performed in the spring, begin in March-April and end 15 days before the bud budlap. In the south, pruning is carried out in autumn and winter. The wounds inflicted during pruning are healed more quickly when pruning in early spring, delay with pruning leads to unnecessary and aimless loss of plastic substances for the plant. For the same reason, summer pruning is undesirable, in which branches with
leaves are removed, tree growth is weakened and, at the same time, their yield decreases.
Summer pruning can be replaced by prischipkoj neodrevesnevshih, grassy shoots. Prischipka shoots( pinzirovka) is used mainly in dwarf fruit growing for enhanced formation of fruit formations. Pinch is applied in the middle of the period of growth;in the case of earlier use, it is necessary to repeat the pinches. Pinched, produced with a delay, does not give the proper effect, as for the formation of fruit buds there is not enough time.
When pruning, first the thinning of the crown is made. When thinning, remove all withered and diseased branches, twigs and pads. In addition, the branches directed to the interior of the crown are removed, as well as weak and shaded, rubbing against each other and crossing each other. If two branches grow close to each other and in one direction, then one of them, less properly located, must be removed.
When thinning and cutting all kinds of scraps, the following rules must be observed. Large, especially intertwining branches must first be cut to pieces, so as not to break other branches, and carefully remove.
Cut all branches to be removed, ie, cut them off at the base to the point of thickening. In no case do not leave stumps, since the latter do not overgrow and a hollow will subsequently form. Hemp, left over from improper pruning, is cut to the ring.
Before sawing branches, they must be cut to half from the bottom, and then cut off from above. If you immediately saw off from above, you can easily tear off the bark, why a long non-healing wound is formed.
When pruning carefully guard, do not break and do not cut fruit branches, as they do not renew, and these places on the branches will remain naked.
When cutting branches, you need to use a garden staircase, but do not climb trees, as this damages the bark and breaks the branches. All wounds more than 1 cm in diameter are smoothed with a sharp knife and covered with garden putty or oil paint on natural varnish. Crowns of trees annually examine and gradually remove branches that grow incorrectly, thicken the crown and weaken its illumination.
After thinning proceed to pruning. Shoots are cut into the outer kidney, so that the branch that develops further from the kidneys was
directed outwards and did not thicken the crown. In the presence of forks, one part of the fork is suppressed by pruning in order to create a greater crown strength at the branching points, since branches often break in the forks.
Pruning on old wood should be done near small twigs, as otherwise shoots of continuation may not develop from sleeping buds, and dry hemp will remain. The tops are removed when they grow on the bends of the branches and suppress the growth of the main branches. When pruning old trees, the tops are not removed, and a new crown is formed from them.
To avoid the spread of diseases and pests, the cut branches are collected after trimming, removed from the garden and burned.
When the trees are rejuvenated for about a year, the crowns are cleaned, that is, all excess and dry branches are cut out. The next year, early in the spring, they begin pruning the branches. When rejuvenating, you have to cut up to 10 years of wood, removing the branches from 0.5 to 2 m of their length. Pruning is performed necessarily over the growth shoot or fruit branch, leaving the cut off branches completely bare.
If the branches have already begun to die, and on their lower parts there are strong fatty shoots( the
chi), then the branches are cut to these tops. The older the tree and the more it is launched, the harder it is to cut it.
Since early spring, the soil under the rejuvenated trees is well fertilized, so that in the first year after pruning branches cause a strong growth of new shoots.
When the trees after the rejuvenation will give a good increase, all the hemp are cut out and the places of the slices are covered with oil paint.
Rejuvenation of trees is best done in two to three years. It is not recommended too much pruning, as this can lead to the death of the whole tree. With the rejuvenation of trees, pruning of the branches starts from the bottom. The upper branches are cut more strongly, and the lower branches are weaker. So, if the upper branches are cut to two thirds, then the middle branches are cut by half, and the lower ones by one third.
After such pruning, with good care and applying a sufficient amount of fertilizers usually causes a strong growth, and the tree after a few years again begins to bear fruit.
The annual work in the garden is cleaning the trunk and thick main branches of the crown from the old dead cortex, mosses, lichens. It is best to clean the trunks and branches in the autumn. At this time, the old dead cortex,
mosses and lichens become soft from dampness and rain and are easily scraped off the tree.
To clean the trunks use metal or wooden scrapers of strong wood( oak, ash, etc.).
Spread the canopy around the trunk and clean only the old bark, without touching the young green bark. After cleaning the rough dead cortex with a wooden scraper, the trunk is cleaned with wire brushes. Everything that will be cleaned off during this work should be carefully collected from the canopy and burned. Together with the dead bark, many pests are destroyed, usually climbing for the winter.
After cleaning, the trunks and bases of the main branches are whitewashed with freshly lime. Whitewash is repeated at the end of winter - in early spring to protect trees from sunburn.
In spring, wounds are treated. When treating wounds, all the dead bark and wood should be thoroughly cleaned up to a healthy place. The inner part of the wound is smeared with pure tar, without touching the edges of the live bark. After tar is absorbed into the wood, the wound is covered with a mixture of equal parts of clay with mullein and tied with burlap. The bandage is removed from time to time, repeated by smearing with tar, covered with clay with mullein and again the
linings wipe the bandage. This is treated until the wound is completely healed.
The hollows on the branches and stems are treated as follows. Clean out all decayed wood to a healthy one. If water accumulates in a hollow, then drill a hole from the side and let the water flow down. The walls of the hollow are smeared with tar. The hollow is filled with broken brick, stones and poured with a solution of cement or lime. One part of the cement or lime is taken up with three parts of sand. Apply asphalt in a mixture with sawdust. Such a seal is smoothed out on the outside with the bark of the tree, but not higher. Small hollows after cleaning can be clogged with wooden stoppers, cut off the cork at the level of the bark and cover with oil paint.
On shoots of damaged trees near the wounds shoots are formed. It is not necessary to remove them, since they increase the influx of plastic substances and thereby contribute to the healing of wounds. Shoots are removed when the wound is overgrown.
In the gardens there are fruit trees that are inclined in one direction or another under the influence of prevailing winds. Such trees interfere with mechanized soil cultivation;so they need to be straightened as much as possible. For this, from the side opposite to the
, a stake is driven in, to which the tilted tree is pulled and tied, or a strong support is placed on the tilt side. In order to avoid damaging the bark of the tree in the garter or abutment place, put felt, bast or birch bark. After 3 years, the straightened tree can maintain a vertical position without garter and support.
Adult fruit trees sometimes have fragile forks of branches that extend at acute angles. To protect such branches from breakage in the places of branching, they are fastened together by long willow rods, wire, bolts or staples. In order not to split the branches and avoid cracks when fastening with bolts or staples, they are pre-drilled with holes in the borer. Branches can also be fastened by grafting closer to the branches that branch out from them.