Pear In The North (part 5)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

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Protecting young pear trees from frostbite, sunburn and rodents

Since the bark of young pear trees is thin and delicate, it can be severely damaged by overheating in intense sunlight, especially from February to March, when the day is clear, sunny and there are frequent frosts at night. This can lead to the formation of extensive wounds that require urgent treatment.

To prevent sunburn in the fall, it is necessary to whitewash the boles and bases of the skeletal branches. Whitewashing significantly (by 5-6 degrees) reduces temperature drops in the early spring period. Currently, to protect trees from sunburn, a specially produced water-dispersion paint is usually used, which lasts for 2-3 years. Murine rodents and hares pose a significant threat to the bark of young trees. In order to avoid damage, tree trunks are tied with various protective materials for the winter. For strapping, you can use roofing felt, roofing felt, spruce branches, raspberry stalks, etc. Glass wool is also suitable for this purpose. You cannot use synthetic film for strapping - under it on sunny days there is a significant increase in temperature, which can lead to sunburn, as well as straw,since it attracts mice.

The protective material is pre-cut into strips of such a width so that they can wrap a tree trunk in several layers. Before strapping, the ground is slightly raked from the base. It is better to carry out strapping after whitewashing the tree before winter. The pad is placed with the needles down, tying it especially tightly at the bottom. When using roofing material, paper, matting, burlap, etc. are placed under it.

A reliable remedy for mice and hares is to install a cylinder of fine-mesh wire mesh with a mesh diameter of 12-15 cm around the boles of young trees. It is buried 5-8 cm into the soil, and the cylinder covers the bole to its entire height. Cylinders made of plastic 1.5-2 liter bottles for soft drinks are also very convenient.

Let's dwell on the features of caring for frozen trees. Do not rush to remove partially damaged trees and replace them with new ones. We must try to restore them, using the enormous life potential of the plant and its ability to regenerate. Frozen trees are severely weakened and require careful maintenance and intensive treatment. Recovery should start in early spring. Immediately after the snow melts, it is necessary to fertilize with nitrogen fertilizers with a dose slightly higher than usual. Then the plants should be whitened or sprinkled with a lime solution to reduce the heating of the bark, loosen the soil well in the trunks and mulch with a layer of organic matter or black synthetic film.

In dry weather, frozen trees need periodic watering, which must be done not only in spring, but also in summer - until mid-July. Pruning of such trees is carried out last. You should not rush with her. It is necessary to wait until all the remaining buds begin to grow and the border between the living and frozen parts is marked. This will determine the nature and extent of the trim. Pruning should be done with caution, since wood from frozen trees becomes fragile and breaks easily. Pruning should only be done with the help of a ladder, without standing or leaning on the branches. It is necessary to especially carefully clean and cover the sections with garden pitch. Foliar dressing is very effective during this period.

Pruning pear

Pruning pear trees has its own characteristics. After planting the tree, it is necessary to prune to restore the disturbed correlation between the roots and the aerial part. In this case, it is advisable not so much to shorten as to remove excess branches by thinning.

During the growth period of the vegetative parts, when the crown of the crown is formed, pruning is minimized, observing only the principle of placement of skeletal branches in accordance with the adopted crown design, bending excess branches to give them a horizontal position. To do this, they are pulled with twine to a nail driven into the base of the tree trunk. This technique has been known for a long time and invariably leads to an acceleration of fruiting.

Unlike the apple tree, the crown of the pear is more rare and light, the annual growth is stronger. If they are not trimmed, few branching is formed. Shortening the shoots of the continuation of skeletal branches during the formation of the crown by about 1/4 of the length leads to the appearance of one or two lateral branches and enhances the development of overgrowing branches on the lower parts of the growths.

Pruning fruiting pear trees is one of the most important activities that affect the duration of the fruiting period and increase yields. A high yield and good quality of fruits can be obtained only if shoots 30-40 cm long grow on the tree annually, which is characteristic of young trees.

With an increase in yields and aging of the tree, the annual growth of shoots weakened, less fruit wood is formed. Pear ringlets exist for 12-15 years, but they have the greatest productivity at the age of 1-3 years. In the second half of the fruiting period, strong growth cannot be provided even with high agricultural technology. The only way to cause normal growth and to strengthen the laying of young fruit formations is to shorten pruning according to the type of light rejuvenation. For this, the branches are shortened along the entire periphery of the crown and partially inside it, mainly on the lateral branches and fruit formations. This "minting" is carried out once every 2-4 years. The signal is a decrease in the length of the growths to 20-25 cm. Light rejuvenation is carried out during the period of full fruiting and weakening of growth on 4-5-year-old wood,that is, for the last annual seedling of normal length (30-40 cm). Rejuvenating pruning is recommended in low-yielding years, and only in the spring, after the end of severe frosts.

When pruning trees, three cutting methods are usually used - for the bud, for the ring and for the lateral branch. Depending on the thickness of the branch to be cut and its location in the crown, the cuts are made with a knife, pruner or saw.

When shortening the one-year growth, a cut is made on the kidney. Moreover, it starts from the base of the kidney and ends at its apex. If such a cut turns out to be too oblique, the bud may dry out or a very weak shoot will grow from it. When pruning in the early spring period, a small stump (1.5-2 cm long) is left above the bud. This technique guarantees the formation of a full-fledged shoot from the upper bud.

When cutting perennial branches, the cut must be made along the outer border of the ring-shaped influx of the branch at the point of its departure. Sometimes, with such pruning, unwanted premature breaks and severe scuffing of the bark occur, which leads to the formation of extensive wounds that do not heal for a long time. In this regard, it is recommended to cut such branches in two steps: the first cut in this case will be preliminary, the second - final.

The most common mistake in this case is leaving stumps or, conversely, cutting too deep the base of the branch (below the annular inundation), which causes large and long-lasting wounds to the tree. When pruning with a garden knife, the cuts are made with one quick motion of the blade. In this case, the cut surface is smooth, requiring no additional cleaning. When used for pruning a pruning shear, its counterpart, and not the cutting part, is turned to the cut branch. In this case, the cut is smooth, the bark around it is not damaged, and there is no hemp left in the supporting branch.

When a branch with an acute angle of departure is cut, the pruner is brought to it from below, and not from the side. When cutting branches, you must not rotate the pruner around the axis of the branch to be cut, since the bark on the branch will be torn off, and the wound will not heal well. When pruning, they also use saws - hacksaws and bows. Branches with obtuse angles of discharge can be sawed off with any saws, and with sharp angles of discharge, it is better to use a hacksaw with a narrow blade. Long, thick and heavy branches must first be sawed from below, along the ring, and then finally sawed out by cutting from above. If the branches have sharp angles of discharge, then it is better to cut them out by making a saw cut from below, otherwise a stump will remain, the cut will be very deep and it will take a long time to overgrow it.

When used for pruning saws and pruning shears, the cut surface is rough and uneven, which prevents the rapid and complete healing of the wound. To stimulate the healing process, wounds must be cleaned with a sharp garden knife.

The rate of wound healing is on average about 1 cm in diameter per year. So, if the wound has a diameter of 10 cm, then it will take at least 10 years for it to completely heal. Over such a long period, the wound, if not protected by anything, can become a focus of decay. To prevent this, all cuts with a diameter of over 1 cm are cleaned to healthy wood and covered with garden pitch.

An important place in pear agricultural technology is occupied by measures to protect plants from pests and diseases. To combat them, it is allowed to use only the least toxic drugs, their list is constantly reviewed, changed and supplemented.

Fight against diseases and pests of pears

The most harmful pear disease is scab, which affects leaves, fruits and shoots. The fungus hibernates on fallen leaves, as well as in the bark of branches. Small blurry spots appear on the leaves, covered with a velvety dark bloom. Fruits also develop dark gray, almost black, cracked spots. Young fruits crumble, while larger ones crack, become ugly and unusable for storage.

To combat scab, trees are sprayed with a 1% Bordeaux mixture (100 g of copper sulfate and lime per 10 liters of water): the first time - when the buds open, the second - at the end of flowering; further - in case of precipitation; the third spraying - 12-15 days after the second, and the fourth - at the same interval. Instead of copper sulfate, you can use copper oxychloride (40 g per 10 l of water). Also, new preparations can be used for spraying (for 10 liters of water): Abiga-peak (40 g), Vectra (2-3 ml), Cuproxat (25-50 g). Trees are sprayed with Skor (2 ml) in the budding phase, the second treatment is carried out after flowering, the third and fourth - with an interval of 10-14 days. It is necessary to collect and destroy fallen leaves or embed them in the soil during the autumn digging. Instead, you can sprinkle fallen leaves with a solution of mineral fertilizers:urea (7%), ammonium nitrate (10%), ammonium sulfate (15%) or potassium chloride (7%). With a strong scab infestation, it is good to do the autumn spraying of trees with a 4-5% urea solution after harvesting the fruits and yellowing of 30% of the leaves.

Fruit rot is also a fungal disease. A small brown spot is initially formed on the affected fruit, it quickly grows, and light gray pads appear on it, located in concentric circles. The pulp first becomes loose, and then hardens, the fruits are mummified and acquire a shiny black-blue color. Crop losses can reach 50-70%.

To combat fruit rot, it is necessary to collect and burn mummified fruits in autumn, collect and remove volunteers from the garden in summer, as well as preventive treatments with a 1% Bordeaux mixture: the first - on the opening leaves, the second - before flowering.

The pear gall mite causes the formation of blisters (gall) on the damaged leaves, which leads to their drying, death and abscission. To combat it, 1-2 sprays are recommended during the growing season with drugs: agravertine (2 ml per 1 l of water), karbofos (75-90 g per 10 l), neoron (15-20 ml per 10 l of water). In addition, infusions and decoctions of insecticidal plants can be successfully used: potatoes, onions, dandelions, tobacco, makhorka, tomato, garlic.

Another common pear pest is the green apple aphid. Against hibernating eggs in early spring, before bud break, tops and branches inhabited with eggs are pruned, stems and branches are cleaned of old bark. During the period of bud isolation, spraying with karbofos (75-90 g per 10 l) can be recommended. You can also use agravertine (6 ml per 1 l), decis (2 ml per 10 l) or one of the herbal poisons (potatoes, onions, hot peppers, tobacco, makhorka, garlic, etc.). Good results are obtained by using a solution of laundry soap, especially by short-term immersion of branches in it.

In some years, significant damage to the leaves is caused by caterpillars of the winter moth, leaving only the thickest veins. In the fall, before the butterflies emerge from the soil, to destroy the females crawling onto the trunk to lay eggs, sticky rings are applied to the stem. In the fight against caterpillars before flowering, spraying with karbofos is used (75-90 g per 10 l of water), as well as decoctions and infusions of hot pepper, tobacco, makhorka, tomato, garlic.

The apple blossom beetle damages the buds, buds and eats away the rudiments of leaves, flowers. The buds do not open and dry up, becoming like brown caps. To combat it, it is necessary to spray with a solution of karbofos (75 g per 10 l) during the budding period and after flowering.

Pear in the North:

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5