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Timely top dressing of trees is extremely important for their proper growth, friendly flowering and abundant fruiting. You can fertilize the garden in the spring, after the snow melts, and if necessary, repeat the application of nutrients in the summer and in the fall.
When feeding is required
Fertilizers should be applied in the garden depending on the type of soil and varieties of trees and shrubs. However, several general principles can be distinguished. The most important thing for trees in spring is vigorous growth, which fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, such as manure, can provide. However, never use fresh. Decomposed manure or compost should be applied to tree trunks for digging.
Other sources of nitrogen can be mineral fertilizers – ammonium nitrate or urea. Three to four weeks after nitrogen fertilization, mineral fertilizers with a high potassium content can be applied to the soil. It should be borne in mind that the introduction of additional nutrients into the soil is not as important for young trees and shrubs as for fruit-bearing ones. Although both will be grateful for extra food after a particularly cold winter.
Feeding methods
Top dressing of trees can occur in different ways: you can fertilize the ground, providing root nutrition, or you can apply microfertilizers through the crown. The second method is often combined with pest control. The first use of fertilizers occurs when laying the garden. Humus (or compost, or rotted manure), superphosphate, ash, and mineral compounds are introduced into the pit for the seedling. In the first year after such top dressing, additional fertilizers can not be applied.
In the second year of growth, as well as before fruiting, you can feed the tree with manure. Settled manure diluted in water is one of the best fertilizers for an orchard. Usually, it is not recommended to use fresh manure for top dressing – it is preferable to scatter it in the garden in the fall for digging, and then in winter it has enough time to decompose so that its beneficial substances pass into the soil in a form convenient for absorption by plants. However, for liquid top dressing, it is quite possible to use fresh manure. To do this, it is dissolved in water, in a ratio of one to five, and left for a week under a tight lid. This fertilizer should be applied after watering the trees. Such top dressing can be repeated in the summer, but no later than in the second half of July.
Video “Overview of the most popular tree dressings”
Video review of the most popular top dressings for fruit trees, as well as useful tips on their use.
Through the roots
This is a traditional way to apply any fertilizer, both mineral and organic (manure, peat, compost). This method is based on the natural life cycle of any plant. The basic rule of root feeding of the garden is that in rainy weather, fertilizers are used in a dry form, and in a dry tree, you first need to water it well and only then feed it.
Under the apple trees in the spring, cow dung can be applied (about 4 kg per tree), or bird droppings diluted in a ratio of 1 to 15. Having opted for mineral fertilizers, you can make up for the lack of nitrogen in the soil with the help of ammonium nitrate – 30 grams per square meter. A little later, apple trees will need potassium, which can be obtained from potassium sulfate – 10-20 grams per square meter.
For pear growth, it is good to apply organic fertilizer every two to three years, depending on the condition of the soil. The pear menu in spring is similar to the apple tree – 4 kilograms of rotted manure or compost and one hundred grams of superphosphate must be embedded in the soil. Stone fruits (cherries, plums) should be properly fed with organic fertilizers every two to three years, with autumn digging. In the spring, you can prepare a nutrient solution with nitrogen-containing compounds for them.
Through the crown
This method of applying fertilizer can be compared to an ambulance. Foliar top dressing can be relevant if you need to urgently fill the lack of nutrients. Foliar top dressing should be carried out after the end of flowering. They can be repeated several times – a week after the end of flowering, a month after the first time, and in the summer, but no later than three weeks before harvesting – so all the nutrients will be absorbed, but will not be in excess.
It is necessary to apply fertilizer for foliar feeding in dry, but cloudy and cool weather, it is correct to do this in the morning or evening hours, this way you can guarantee the absence of burns on the leaves. For apple trees, you can use a solution of urea (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) – spray both on the leaves and on the branches and trunk. You can also spray the trees with ash solution, which is a good source of calcium, phosphorus and potassium. To prepare top dressing, you need to insist a glass of ash in 2 liters of hot water, then dilute the resulting suspension in 10 liters of water. You can use liquid manure for foliar feeding – dilute half a liter in a bucket of water, then strain.
The pear is a more delicate tree than the apple tree. It can also be fed with urea, but it would be right to reduce the concentration – 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water. Kostochkovs need a little more nitrogen fertilizer for optimal growth. Therefore, the concentration of urea for foliar feeding should be higher – 3-3,5 tablespoons per ten liters of water. Also, for the growth of any fruit trees and berry bushes, fertilizing with microelements is necessary. To do this, you can use a solution of complex mineral fertilizers.
How to understand that the plant is missing something
If the tree does not grow well, is covered with small leaves, the fruits do not set or do not ripen, then it is time to fertilize. By the appearance of plants, it is sometimes possible to determine which elements in the diet it lacks.
Pale green, yellowish or white leaves indicate a lack of nitrogen, especially in sandy soils. If the plant does not grow well at the same time, flowering is delayed – it is necessary to add manure or compost. With a lack of phosphorus, the leaves may take on a dark green, bluish or purple hue. After detecting such a problem, it is necessary to apply superphosphate, nitroammophoska or phosphate rock. When a plant lacks potassium, the leaves wrinkle, curl, flowers crumble, even from young trees. This problem can be solved by using potassium chloride, potassium sulfate or potassium nitrate. Well-nourished trees will create a well-groomed garden that will delight both winter and summer.
Video “How to feed the trees in the spring season”
Demonstrative video on how to feed the trees in the spring.
