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It is necessary to feed honeysuckle after fruiting if you want to get a good harvest the next season. In autumn, the shrub restores the strength spent on setting berries. Not only future fruiting, but also how honeysuckle will overwinter depends on the quality of feeding.
Features of feeding honeysuckle in autumn
The berry crop survives frosty winters well, which is a big plus for the gardener. There is no need for unnecessary work associated with covering the bushes. However, for successful wintering, it is in the fall that it is important to feed the plant. Honeysuckle will gain strength and resistance to cold will increase.
It is important to remember that honeysuckle is a berry bush. In this group of plants, the root system lies in the upper layers of the soil. Usually this depth is about 40 cm. In snowy winters, snow provides additional protection from the cold to the roots.In its absence, frost “hits” the bare ground. If you don’t feed the berry garden in the fall, the weak root system will freeze. In the spring, the honeysuckle will have to be revived. You will have to forget about the current season's harvest.
If you feed the berry garden in the fall, the next season the harvest will be more abundant and the fruits will be larger.
To feed the berry garden, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are used. Ash and green manure will do. Gardeners often use folk remedies. Shrubs perceive organic matter best. It is optimal to feed honeysuckle with this fertilizer in July or subsequent months, which depends on the timing of the completion of fruiting of a particular variety.
It is optimal to combine organic matter with mineral complexes. Many gardeners add combined mixtures for honeysuckle. However, professionals advise alternating. It is better to feed organic matter in summer and autumn. In the spring, mineral complexes are added to the berry garden. This approach is explained by the intensity of decomposition of nutrient mixtures and the supply of useful components to the tissues of the bush.
Watch the video for more information about organic feeding:
Organic matter takes a long time to decompose. First, it is processed by beneficial microorganisms living in the soil. They secrete substances that honeysuckle absorbs through its roots. The period from autumn to early spring is precisely reserved for the decomposition process. Honeysuckle awakens early at the beginning of March. The root system immediately receives nutrients.
It is better to feed with mineral complexes in the spring, since these fertilizers quickly dissolve in water. They are useful substances ready for absorption.After entering the ground, the root system of honeysuckle immediately begins to absorb them and direct them through the tissues to develop shoots.
A feature of feeding after fruiting is the implementation of complex measures that help prepare honeysuckle for winter. When all the berries have been collected, the soil under the bushes and even between the rows is loosened to a depth of 10 cm. After digging, it is time to feed the berry garden with the selected fertilizer.
To begin the process of decomposition of organic matter, carry out abundant watering. Honeysuckle itself needs water in the fall to store energy. After watering, the tree trunk circle is mulched. Here, too, it is optimal to choose organic matter. Peat and rotted compost are considered good mulch. You can cover it with spruce needles on top. Prickly mulch will protect honeysuckle from pests.
The convenience of caring for honeysuckle is explained by the fact that it gives the gardener a minimum of trouble in the fall. It is enough to feed the bush, trim it and tie it with a rope so that the shoots are not broken by the snow. No cover required.
How to choose autumn feeding for honeysuckle for the winter
To feed the berry garden, experienced gardeners create their own fertilizer recipes. They monitor the condition of the plant, take into account the varietal characteristics, and know the composition of the soil where honeysuckle grows. It is easier for beginners to feed the crop with ready-made complexes offered by retail outlets.
From mineral complexes for honeysuckle, you can purchase phosphorus-potassium fertilizer
When choosing fertilizer, first of all, bets are placed on organic matter. It is enough to simply scatter mulch under the bushes. The best is humus obtained from horse manure. But it is not available to every gardener.Organics can be purchased at the store. For example, bone meal is a fluoride fertilizer. Wood ash is used to replenish calcium. You can easily get it yourself by lighting a fire from trimmed tree branches.
To feed honeysuckle in the summer, choosing the period immediately after the berries are released or in the spring with the beginning of awakening, you can use mineral complexes. They are better absorbed during the growing season. They give preference to Potassium Monophosphate, Diammofosk or other complex fertilizer. It contains phosphorus and potassium in the required proportion.
It is better to dissolve any mineral complex with water and pour the prepared liquid over the honeysuckle. You can feed the berry garden with dry granules. They are introduced into the ground. With each watering, the dry granules gradually dissolve, providing the berry plant with useful substances for a long time.
How to feed honeysuckle after harvesting
The choice of a feeding complex is the business of every gardener. Usually they use what is freely available. You can always prepare organic matter on your site by organizing a compost heap. If there is no desire to do unpleasant work, they go to the store for fertilizer.
Autumn feeding of honeysuckle with mineral fertilizers
When using mineral fertilizers, it is important to know that in the fall they will provide nutrients to the root system. However, they will not affect the composition of the soil in any way. This is the disadvantage of minerals over organics.
One of the popular fertilizers is “Baikal EM-1”
To feed the berry garden in the fall, a good preparation called “Baikal EM-1” is suitable. It is sold as a concentrated liquid in bottles of various sizes. In addition to providing honeysuckle with nutrients, the drug will cleanse the soil of micropathogenic environments. For each bush, prepare a solution of 10 liters of water and 100 ml of “Baikal”, pour it into the trunk circle. After a short period of time, abundant watering is carried out with three buckets of water.
If honeysuckle was fed with the drug in August, then with the onset of October the procedure is repeated, provided that the autumn is warm without frost. This will allow the berry plant to store more moisture and nutrients for the winter.
When using other mineral fertilizers, you must carefully read their composition. Do not use preparations containing a lot of nitrogen. Honeysuckle may awaken the buds that were laid for the next year. With the onset of frost they will die.
Feeding honeysuckle in autumn with phosphorus fertilizers
Phosphorus is added when the weather is still warm outside. However, experienced gardeners do not recommend using the mineral in its pure form. It is optimal to prepare an N-P-K composition from individual components or purchase a ready-made complex containing phosphorus.
When preparing the composition yourself, you can use phosphate rock
You can independently prepare the complex for feeding honeysuckle in September using the following recipe:
- ammonium nitrate – maximum 20 g;
- urea – no more than 10 g;
- add 50 g of superphosphate.
It is better to dissolve all the ingredients with water, and then feed the plant.
Feeding honeysuckle after picking berries with potassium fertilizers
It is similarly not advisable to add potassium in its pure form.Usually they purchase a ready-made complex containing this fertilizer or make the required composition themselves.
Potassium contains harmful substances that pollute the soil
To feed the berry garden in September, usually 15 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfur are dissolved in a 10-liter bucket of water. 1 liter of liquid is poured under each bush.
Feeding honeysuckle after fruiting with organic fertilizers
Organics are often fed not in the fall, but in July-August after picking the berries. The simplest option is to mulch the tree trunk circle with dry compost or humus.
In summer, you can add a solution of bird droppings to honeysuckle
Good stimulation of honeysuckle is provided by watering with a solution of mullein infusion or bird droppings. First, 1/3 of the organic matter is soaked in ½ part of water for 2 days. 1 liter of the finished infusion is poured into a bucket with 5 liters of water, stirred and poured under the root. The procedure is carried out on a cool day.
Feeding honeysuckle after harvest with folk remedies
Green manure is often used as a folk remedy. They successfully replace organic matter. After decomposition, the top layer of soil is enriched with humus. Peas, mustard, clover and other similar crops are sown as green manure.
Green manure is mowed down and buried under bushes, where it decomposes.
Sowing is carried out immediately after harvesting. The grown green manure is mowed and buried in the soil to a shallow depth so as not to damage the roots. However, the best option is not to bury, but to cover the tops spread on the tree trunk with soil.
Potato peelings are rich in nutrients
Among folk remedies, a decoction based on potato peelings is also used. Ash is added to it and left for about 2 days.The prepared solution is poured into a hole dug around the base of the bush.
Conclusion
It is advisable to feed honeysuckle immediately after fruiting so that the berry plant has time to absorb the nutrients. If the process is delayed for cold regions, the plants will go into a dormant stage. A late procedure will not bring a positive result.
