Contents
Growing plums from your own garden is a rather laborious process, but if you apply certain conditions and adhere to all generally accepted planting rates, you can end up with a good harvest of your favorite fruits. How to plant a plum correctly – this question worries many gardeners. To do this, you will need not only to decide on the time of planting a tree, but also to correctly choose a place, a crop variety and plant it.
When to plant
You can plant a seedling in autumn or spring. Drop off times vary by region. If the seedlings manage to take root normally before the winter frosts come, then it will be much easier for them to grow and develop even in the cold season. If we talk about the middle zone of our country, then it is not recommended to plant a plum in the fall.
That is why most often you can find recommendations for the spring planting of a fruit tree. But under the condition of a not particularly harsh climate, if everything is done correctly, then you can grow a plum tree in central Our Country. In this case, top dressing should not be abused in order to prevent excessive growth of the branches, and also not to provoke a burn of the roots. It is also not necessary to deepen the planting of a young tree so that the bark does not stick, which can adversely affect the growth and fruiting of the crop. Also, you can not tie the seedling with hard material to the support, so as not to damage the fragile bark. These are the recommendations for planting plums in the fall.
You can also transplant the tree into the ground in the spring. Since the first buds had not yet appeared at this time, it is best to plant a tree in your garden in the already slightly warmed ground on the site. First, do not forget to cut off the damaged part of the root system. Under the condition of strong soil moisture, it is recommended to plant a plum tree on an elevated place.
How to choose a place
In order to grow a good viable tree, planted even in spring, even in autumn, it is necessary to choose the right site for planting. The plum variety is largely able to determine the composition that the soil must have for its normal growth and full development. If we talk about varieties that give oblong fruits that have an oval shape, then it is recommended for them to choose clay soil. And, for example, for such an excellent plum variety as Renklod, it would be correct to determine the loamy chernozem as the planting site. If the soil is well fertilized, then the acquired plum seedling can be transplanted even into dry sandy loamy soil. Fat-type soil is a good choice for growing a plum tree.
In order to feed the future fruit tree, rotted manure introduced into the soil is well suited. For proper planting of plums, the ground must be cultivated to a depth of about 40 cm. Plums are demanding on the level of soil acidity – ideally, it should be neutral. Acidity control is easy to do by observing which weeds prefer to grow in the area in your garden. If sorrel, mint, plantain, heather grow there, you are dealing with increased acidity of the soil, on which, in principle, you can also plant a plum if liming is done. To do this, the earth must be sprinkled with lime or ash, after which manure must be added and dug up. When preparing a landing pit, it is made up to 60 cm deep and wide. In addition to manure, compost, double superphosphate, potassium sulfate or ash are added there.
Video “How to plant trees in autumn”
Variety choice
Modern varieties of plums are quite diverse. The decision on which ones and how much to grow in your garden should be taken by the gardener.
We will only tell a little about the most popular types of plum trees. Belarusian – a plum variety, which is a small tree with a rounded crown. It grows large-sized fruits that weigh up to 50 grams and are distinguished by a sweet and sour taste. Such a crop begins to bear fruit in the fifth year from the moment of planting, and at the age of 10 years it is able to please its owner with a yield of about 30 kilograms from each tree.
The Hungarian ordinary is a plum variety that has an average size of both the tree and the fruits themselves. The beginning of fruiting falls somewhere in the fifth year, you can get fruits weighing up to 30 grams. This variety has increased frost resistance, does not impose special requirements on agricultural technology. The maximum yield from this type of fruit tree, as practice shows, can be about 40 kg.
Hungarian Italian – is a tree of medium height, the fruits of which can weigh from 30 to 40 grams. Under the condition of warm weather, the fruits perfectly retain their shape, but in the cold, the possibility of cracking is not ruled out. The harvest cannot be called regular, because at low air temperatures, the early flowering characteristic of this type of plum leads to weak fertilization. The fruiting period of such a tree begins in the fourth year after planting.
Large-fruited – is a tall tree with a crown of a beautiful pyramidal shape, with light yellow fruits that have some redness. Their sizes are quite large, and the weight can be up to 65 grams. It begins to bear fruit at about 4 – 5 years. And closer to the 10th anniversary, you can harvest about 25 kg of delicious fruits from a tree.
Procedure
In autumn, you should purchase seedlings and dig them on your site, making a special trench about 35 cm deep. Roots and half of the trunk, laying the seedlings obliquely, cover with earth. The soil should be compacted and spilled with water.
For transplanting seedlings, a smaller hole is required than for an apple tree. Its dimensions should be about 80 cm wide and 50 cm deep. When planting plums between trees, it is necessary to leave a distance of about 3 meters. Nearby, it is advised to plant plums of different varieties, since this way their pollination will be better, and the yield will be higher.
After you decide on the variety and place of planting the seedling, it will be time to plant it in the soil. For this, as noted above, a landing pit of a certain size is prepared, where about 10–16 kg of compost or manure, 100–150 grams of double superphosphate, up to about 120 grams of potassium sulfate or up to 500 grams of ash are added. The root neck of the tree after planting should be on the surface of the soil. Since the soil will settle somewhat in the process, the landing site should be 5 cm above ground level. After filling the roots, compact the soil and pour two buckets of water. After that, you need to tie the fathoms to the driven peg with soft twine, and then mulch with humus, peat or rotted manure.
Video “How to grow a plum yourself”
The video contains detailed tips to help you grow a large and prolific tree.
