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It may seem that after harvesting, there is nothing left to do in the garden until next spring. The trees shed their leaves and go into hibernation, the garden beds are cleared. Winter is coming - a time of rest and garden maintenance is no longer required. But caring for fruit trees in autumn takes up all the gardener’s time until winter. You don’t need to garden every day, but all three months before the onset of winter.
How to care for fruit trees in autumn
Autumn care fruit trees begin almost in August. The plant must have time to prepare for wintering, and for this it needs to be harvested. While the fruits are hanging on the tree, the processes of preparing for winter do not start. If the climate allows, the process of caring for fruit crops can be distributed monthly. If the garden is large, then this distribution will be optimal.
September
Procedures to be done in September:
- harvest;
- remove hunting belts from trunks;
- collect all the carrion from the ground;
- carry out sanitary pruning;
- pour potassium permanganate solution onto tree trunk circles;
- treat tree trunks with copper oxychloride.
By autumn, the fruits remain only on apple and pear trees, but it is advisable to remove them before September 10. Late-ripening varieties of apples can be removed by the end of the month, then all care procedures will have to be carried out a little later. The time between gardening works will need to be compacted, but in the northern regions it is often necessary to do everything almost simultaneously in order to finish caring for fruit crops by mid-October.
Hunting belts against ants and other flightless pests are removed, since the insects are already beginning to hibernate, and the protection will interfere with the care of tree trunks. Carrion is picked up from the ground. Mold spores from rotting fruit can get onto the tree and cause fruit rot the following year.
During the period when trees are preparing for winter, but the leaves have not yet fallen, drying and diseased branches are clearly visible. After general “tidying up” of the garden, sanitary pruning is done. There are two opposing positions regarding autumn formative pruning. Some gardeners believe that everything should be postponed until spring. Others are convinced that autumn is the best time to form the crown and remove excess shoots. But it is better to carry out formative pruning and crown thinning after leaf fall, when all the shoots are clearly visible and you don’t have to wade through the foliage.
Disease Control
Two subsequent care operations serve this purpose. A simple way to reduce the likelihood of gum development in plums, cherries, cherries and apricots is to shed the trunk circles of these fruit trees in the fall with a solution of potassium permanganate. For each tree you need to spend 3 buckets of medium strength solution.
Treatment of trunks against fungal diseases in September is carried out using copper oxychloride. In stores it can be sold under different brands. If the month is warm, insects can still be awake at this time, and the foliage will cover the branches from the chemical, so in September only the trunks of fruit trees are treated.
It is too early to peel off loose bark in September. In addition, this does not help if the fruit tree is infected with a fungus. Copper oxychloride is diluted according to the instructions and sprayed on the trunks, paying special attention to suspicious crevices. At this point, caring for fruit trees in September can be considered complete.
October
The month of the main stage of caring for fruit trees in the fall in preparation for winter. This month is held
- leaf cleaning;
- digging up the earth;
- fertilizing fruit trees;
- spraying against pests;
- pre-winter watering;
- provide protection against sunburn.
After the leaves fall, they are raked into a heap and burned. In most cases, the foliage of fruit crops is infected with pathogenic organisms and should not be left for compost.
Digging up the soil will improve moisture permeability and allow frost to destroy pests burrowed into the ground. They dig up the entire garden or just the trunk circles of fruit trees.
Feeding with fertilizers will allow trees to “recoup” the cost of producing fruit. After leaf fall, it is better to treat the trees again against pests and fungi. At this time, you can process not only the trunks, but also the branches. The main treatment at this time is carried out against pests that have entered the shelter. But since the branches were not treated for fungus, the fungus is also destroyed.
Pre-winter watering is done before the onset of cold weather, around the end of October. But you should be guided by the climate and weather forecast. If watering was insufficient or the cold snap came suddenly, it is advisable to treat the trees with lime to prevent sunburn.
November
At the end of October and beginning of November, heat-loving fruit trees are already insulated for the winter and protected from rodents, if required. Additionally, trees protect against sunburn.
Autumn watering of fruit trees
In parallel with preparing for winter, fruit trees must be watered. Sometimes you may get the impression that fruit crops only need watering once before wintering. In reality, everything is different.
During the productive period, a fruit tree needs a lot of moisture, which is why the roots work in pump mode. It is necessary to water fruit trees in the summer, while the fruits are ripening. In the fall, after harvesting, it is necessary to restore the water balance of the plant itself. If it rains almost every day in summer, you don’t have to worry that the tree doesn’t have enough moisture. In all other cases, watering will be necessary.
Do I need to water fruit trees in the fall?
The people have the expression “freezing out”. This is how they dried clothes on the street in the days when there were no electric dryers. The moisture in the washed laundry froze and then slowly evaporated. Due to the low humidity of the frosty air, the laundry dried very quickly. On rainy autumn days, the drying process was much longer. The freezing effect is present in the freezer if opened food is placed there.
Fruit trees are no exception; in frosty weather, moisture also evaporates from them. Lack of moisture will affect the spring.Therefore, before the cold weather, you need to have time to saturate the plants with water in sufficient quantities.
Also in the fall, flower and growth buds are formed, which also require moisture for full development. The third reason for abundant pre-winter watering of fruit trees is sunburn. Most often they occur on sunny frosty days if there was poor watering in the fall. The only case when you need to be careful with watering is high groundwater.
Timing of autumn watering of fruit trees
In autumn, watering fruit crops is included in the “mandatory program” for caring for trees. The timing and amount of water consumed depend on the weather conditions of the current year. If the year is rainy, the number of irrigations and the volume of water consumed are reduced. In a dry year, watering is carried out more often and the volume of water is increased. In extreme dry summers, watering is carried out once a week. In this case, moisture should flow under the tree for 3-4 hours. The pressure is adjusted so that the water does not overflow from the tree-trunk circle, but also does not have time to be immediately absorbed. In Russia, such drought occurs very rarely, so watering for half an hour is usually sufficient.
With high-quality watering, the soil under the plant should be saturated to a depth of 1.5 m. The minimum possible depth is 0.7 m. The last indicator is a figure for a region with a thin fertile layer. If the soil is on sand, there is no point in pouring it deeply. The liquid will still go into the sand.
How to Determine Watering Intervals
Since the moisture needs of trees vary even in the same region and depend on the weather in a particular year, watering intervals have to be determined anew each time. To do this, dig a hole 0.6 m deep in the middle of the garden and take a handful of earth from its bottom. If the soil easily forms into a hard clump, no watering is required. If the soil particles do not stick to each other and the earth crumbles in your hands, the garden needs watering.
There is a more accurate method for determining the need for watering. A lump of earth taken from the hole is placed on a newspaper or paper napkin:
- the lump left a wet trail – no watering required;
- the lump was wet and dense, but left no trace – you can irrigate by reducing the volume of water by ⅓;
- the ground is dry and crumbling – full watering is necessary.
Clay soil does not allow water to pass through well, and in this case it is necessary to ensure that excess moisture does not form in the soil. It displaces oxygen from the soil, and the roots can rot.
Watering rates per plant
When watering, take into account the quality of the soil. If the drainage is poor, the soil is soaked no more than 1 m. The type of wood in this case does not matter. When watering, they are guided by age.
It is better to water less frequently, but more abundantly. A young tree requires about 40 liters of water. Trees 10-15 years old require 40-70 liters. And the old and powerful ones - up to 100 liters of water. This is according to one of the versions. Other gardeners argue that this amount of moisture is not enough for the plant and watering with a hose should last 30 minutes.
Serious droughts rarely occur in Russia, and throughout the entire fall, an orchard may need only one watering - pre-winter moisture recharging.The last watering of fruit trees is carried out before winter - in early November, when the soil is not yet frozen. If earlier cold weather is predicted, watering should be carried out before the onset of frost.
How to water fruit trees in the fall
There can be 3 ways to water trees in the fall, and they often depend on the degree of slope of the site:
- hose or buckets;
- sprinkler;
- drip.
When water is supplied from a hose and bucket, a significant volume is immediately poured onto the ground. If the area is flat, the liquid remains within the boundaries of the trunk circle.
If you dig grooves to the tree trunks on a flat area, water from a hose can be supplied to several trees at once.
For sloping areas, this method is not suitable; sprinkler systems are used. Spraying water allows you to evenly wet the soil, but increases air humidity. This can lead to fungal diseases.
The most ineffective is drip irrigation. At first glance, it does not require much labor or care for the tree trunks: just lay out the hoses with small holes and turn on the water supply. The hose is laid out in a circle with a diameter equal to the diameter of the crown. Theoretically, the soil inside the circle should be saturated with moisture. In fact, with this method, the soil does not get wet to the required depth, even if watering lasts all day.
Pre-winter watering
For greater efficiency, moisture-recharging irrigation is done using buckets or a hose. The importance of pre-winter watering when caring for fruit crops is that it not only saturates the plant with moisture, but also prevents the soil from freezing in cold weather.
Often this watering is combined with the last fertilizing.To do this, dig a 20 cm deep groove around the perimeter of the tree trunk circle, into which fertilizers are poured. After this, watering is carried out.
The water rate is the same as usual if the weather is favorable or slightly increased with the expectation of good soil wetting.
When using a hose, the rate is calculated using a 10-liter bucket: the time during which the bucket is filled is noted.
Preparing fruit trees for winter
In addition to watering and treating against pests, caring for fruit trees also includes insulation for the winter, protection from sunburn and rodents, and removal of damaged areas in crops prone to gum disease.
Insulation of the tree can be partial (only the standard) or complete. They completely cover the southern tree in northern latitudes. But in this case it is necessary to form a crown so that the plant is not too tall.
Before wintering, the tree is inspected in search of damaged areas from which “resin” is released. This place is cleaned, disinfected and covered with garden varnish.
Sunburn protection
Used to protect against sunburn whitewash. During autumn care, they use not just a lime solution, but a rather complex composition, the purpose of which is to soften daily temperature changes. The crust obeys the laws of physics, expanding when heated during the day and contracting when cooled at night. Because of this, cracks appear on the bark.
The solution is prepared from a mixture of copper sulfate and lime. For old trees, this solution is prepared on the basis of a paste to obtain a viscous jelly. You can also add cow dung and clay to the composition. This whitewash will form a thick layer on the trunk and serve as a buffer between night and day temperatures.
Paste is not used for seedlings, since the young bark must breathe. To care for the trees, they use a mixture of clay, lime and cow dung, which are diluted with water until the consistency of sour cream.
Rodent protection
When caring for fruit trees in the fall, you can combine protection against sunburn with treatment against rodents. To do this, just add carbolic acid to the whitewash solution.
Mechanical methods of protection are more often used. Already with the onset of frost, tree trunks are wrapped in burlap with roofing felt or spruce paws are tied to the trunks with the needles down.
When using roofing felt, burlap must be laid between it and the trunk so that the trunk does not fall off. Protection against rodents is made close to the ground and sprinkled with soil, since mice can crawl into very small cracks. Young trees require such care, since rodents prefer soft young bark. They are not interested in old trees.
Conclusion
Caring for fruit trees in the fall is a necessary stage in the formation of the future harvest. Neglect of autumn care can result in trees freezing during the cold season or in a spring outbreak of fungal diseases.
