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How To Properly Prepare For Planting And Plant Apple And Pear Trees - 1
How To Properly Prepare For Planting And Plant Apple And Pear Trees - 1

Video: How To Properly Prepare For Planting And Plant Apple And Pear Trees - 1

Video: How To Properly Prepare For Planting And Plant Apple And Pear Trees - 1
Video: Totally Preventable Mistakes When Planting Fruit Trees 2024, March
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The main pome fruits in our gardens are apple and pear. If you intend to grow them in your garden, then first of all you need to be very serious about the choice of varieties, since they differ in early maturity, winter hardiness, and growth.

Features of growing apple and pear

An apple tree and a pear are very close in biological properties to each other, however, they also have some specific structural features, and, therefore, different requirements for growing conditions. This is also important for novice gardeners to know in order to choose a place for planting seedlings and plant them correctly. In the future, this will have a beneficial effect on the vegetation of plants and their fruiting.

Fruit trees garden apple tree blossoms landscape design
Fruit trees garden apple tree blossoms landscape design

In a pear, the root system lies in deeper horizons than in an apple tree. It is characterized by vertical roots, weakly branching and heading deep into the subsoil (up to 5-6 m), and horizontal, strongly branching, running parallel to the soil surface. The bulk of the roots is located at a depth of 20 cm to 1 m. The root hairs of an apple tree are thicker than that of a pear, therefore, pear survival rate is lower.

The pear tree is characterized by a pronounced trunk and a more compressed crown shape than that of an apple tree, which can be of some importance when they are located in the garden. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that with age, the crown of a tree of the same pear variety can change, even acquiring a spreading shape. Experts associate this with a strong deviation of the skeletal branches under the weight of the harvest and the restoration of the crown of an old tree due to dormant buds forming branches in a horizontal direction. They note that this culture has a higher bole than that of the apple tree. The strongly pronounced apical growth of branches of the first, second and subsequent orders determines the good layering of the plant. Weakened growth of lateral branches running at right angles leads to the formation of short overgrowing branches. In this, the pear differs significantly from the apple tree.

The apple tree is a more plastic plant, less demanding on growing conditions, and therefore much more common in gardens than a pear. But she is more long-liver, has an average age of almost 100 years (there are cases when her trees, with favorable cases, lived for 500 and even 1000 years). The pear is capable of reaching a height of 20-25 m, forming such a trunk that only three people can grasp with their hands. There is information that the duration of the fruiting period of these crops depends on the growing conditions, quality of care, varietal characteristics and rootstock.

The apple tree is characterized by the periodicity of fruiting ("year - empty, year - dense"), but the pear bears fruit regularly, although its harvest, as they say, "year after year". Experts explain this phenomenon by the fact that a significant amount of nutrients are consumed for the formation of fruits, due to which the tree is depleted and it no longer has enough nutrients for the development of new fruit buds in the same year. In their opinion, if you properly cultivate the soil, systematically and timely apply fertilizers that will provide the required ratio of nutrients in the soil, skillfully prune branches and fight pests in a timely manner, you can achieve a solid annual harvest of these crops.

It should also be recalled that a pear is a cross-pollinated crop, which requires one more pear (preferably another variety, even a specially selected one), while an apple tree can successfully bear fruit alone, although it also needs a pair for a high yield. Pollen from flowers of one sort of pear to another is carried mainly by bees and bumblebees. True, the smell of its flowers is not as pleasant as that of an apple tree, which is why pollinating insects are less willing to visit this culture than an apple tree.

The soil

For laying a garden, especially a large one, soil conditions are important. As a rule, choose

soils are sod-podzolic, gray, forest, sandy, clayey and loamy in texture, as well as peat. It is worth noting that the development of the plant and the yield of the pear are more dependent on the quality of the soil than the apple tree. So that later you do not have problems due to plant diseases that have a physiological nature, you should first assess the acidity of the soil of the future garden (through agrochemical services), as well as perform a set of preparatory work aimed at cultivating the soil (to increase the humus content and improve the physical -mechanical properties).

Sandy and sandy loamy soils are characterized by flowability, nutrient deficiency and low water retention capacity. According to the calculations of specialists, when their cultivation is necessary: deep plowing - up to 60 cm, the introduction of organic matter - 10-15 kg / m 2, clay - 50 kg / m 2, lime - 0.5-0.8 kg / m 2 (in depending on the acidity of the soil), superphosphate - 0.07-0.08 kg / m 2 and potassium chloride - 0.04 kg / m 2… If the soil is cultivated to a depth of 30-40 cm, then the specified fertilizer rates should be halved. To increase the fertility of sandy loam soils, one year before planting fruit trees, sow narrow-leaved lupine in the allotted area, which then can be used as a green fertilizer, plowing it. Since sandy and sandy loam soils have a poor absorption capacity, when high fertilizer rates are applied, the concentration of the soil solution first increases, but then the nutrients are easily washed out of them. Therefore, fertilizers should be applied in small portions (in the form of dressings).

Typically, the pear tolerates any soil (except for sandy crushed stone soils) in which normal root growth is possible. However, it is important to know that the consistency of the pulp, the taste and aroma of its fruits depend on the properties of the soil. On poor soils, pears are often sour, with dry, bitter, granular flesh. Sandy dry soils can not only impair the taste of their fruits, but also significantly reduce fresh storage times.

Heavy and cold clay and loamy soils are characterized by a low content of humic and ash substances. They can be refined by deep plowing: strongly podzolic - by 40 cm, medium podzolic - by 50 cm and the introduction of organic matter - 10-15 kg / m 2, lime - 0.5-0.8 kg / m 2, superphosphate - 0.07 kg / m 2 or phosphoric flour - 0.12 kg / m 2 and potassium chloride - 0.05 kg / m 2. To improve their physical qualities, sand is also introduced - 50 kg / m 2. Experienced gardeners believe that cultivation should be completed a year before the garden is laid by sowing catch crops (winter rye, lupine, mustard or phacelia), followed by their timely incorporation into the soil.

Many areas of the North-West region (especially the Leningrad region) are located on peat bogs, which can be of different thickness. They take a long time to cultivate them. Although they contain a significant percentage of organic matter - peat, however, unfortunately, nitrogen is in it in a form inaccessible to plants. In addition, peat is characterized by a fairly high acidity, low amounts of phosphorus, potassium, copper and boron. To carry out its successful cultivation, you need to perform a cycle of sequential operations: drainage, liming and sanding of peat, fertilization. The main method for the development of peatlands is drainage, which consists in lowering the groundwater level and removing excess moisture from the root layer of the soil. The simplest drainage method is the construction of an open drainage network, which is preferable to be organized in horticulture.

Every gardener should remember that growing an apple or pear is possible at a groundwater level of 2-2.5 m from the soil surface. If their level still cannot be reduced to the required limits, in this case it is recommended to grow apple and pear trees on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks, the root system of which is more superficial. You can also plant trees on bulk hills with a height of 0.4-0.6 m.

To improve the quality of soils, in which the thickness of the peat layer exceeds 0.4 m, it is advisable to carry out sanding. In this case, sand is evenly distributed on the surface of the site (4 m 3 or 6 tons per hundred square meters), and then the entire site is dug up. With a medium-thick layer of peat (0.2-0.4 m), it is necessary to carry out a high-quality deep digging, as a result of which the sand layer located below mixes well with peat. During soil cultivation, which has a thin layer of peat (less than 20 cm), excessive sand gets into the top layer. This leads to very rapid decomposition of peat and depletion of the root layer in organic matter. Therefore, it is even desirable to add an additional amount of peat (4-6 m 3per hundred square meters). To create an optimal supply of nutrients in peat bogs for digging (0.2-0.25 m deep), apply: manure or compost - 1-2 kg / m 2 as organic matter, lime - 0.6-1 kg / m 2 at the presence of acidity, double superphosphate - 0.07-0.09 kg / m 2 or simple - 0.15-0.2 kg / m 2, or phosphate rock - 0.2-0.25 kg / m 2, chlorate or potassium sulfate - 0.04-0.05 kg / m 2.

To be continued

Alexander Lazarev

Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher, All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Pushkin

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