The apple tree is a fruitful tree. Gardeners love these trees because they are easy to care for and generous in harvest. Only through proper care can you get good results. After harvesting, it is worth choosing the right fertilizers and providing the apple trees with minerals and vitamins for the next season. Next, we will talk about how to properly feed and fertilize apple trees in the fall after fruiting.
Why is the apple tree feeding in the fall?
It is a mistake to believe that there is no need for fertilizers in the autumn period after harvesting the fruits. In the fall, the tree, be it an apple, pear or plum tree, needs to recover from its growing season. Feeding the apple tree during the dormant period is of great importance. This will help prepare the apple tree for winter.
Before feeding, the trees should be well watered so as not to harm the root system. Young plants should be fertilized very carefully. Not all mixtures may work, some may even harm a fragile horse system.
Top dressing will help achieve the following goals:
- trees will tolerate frosts more easily;
- in spring, trees need nutrients that can be contained in fertilizers;
- will help protein-carbohydrate synthesis that occurs inside the plant;
- the precise dosage of the complex mixtures will give the trees the substances they need.
When is it better to feed young trees
Top dressing will help strengthen the plant, prepare it for wintering. Terms of application - from the end of August, so that the apple trees have time to assimilate vitamins and minerals before the onset of frost. This will help the tree bear fruit better for the coming season.
Cold soil will not allow the root system to function normally.
The roots will not absorb nutrients quickly. It will take about a month for the apple trees to assimilate the necessary substances from the feeding. Therefore, in August, when the ground is still warm, trees will be able to obtain the necessary substances for wintering.
How to fertilize an apple tree in autumn?
The condition of the soil depends on the type of top dressing chosen. First, the acidity level of the soil is determined. Poor harvest can be caused by excessive acidity or alkalinity of the soil.
To neutralize the high level of acidity, wood ash, dolomite flour, slaked lime, chalk are added to the soil. This will help improve the condition of the soil in the root zone. With a high concentration of alkali in the soil, peat and sawdust are used.
Organic products in September and October
In horticulture, organic blends are often used. They can be applied together with basic fertilizers.
Slurry is recommended to be applied to the soil in late September or early October. To create a mixture, take a container (barrel). Fill it 1/3 with manure, then fill it with water to the top. You need to insist for three days, stirring the mixture periodically. The resulting solution is diluted with water (in a ratio of 1: 5, if poultry droppings are taken - 1:10). Such a liquid is poured over a trunk circle or hole.
Manure is taken along with straw bedding, but it is possible without it. Such fertilizer should be used only after complete overheating. Fresh manure cannot be used for fruit-bearing trees. The temperature of the manure rises during overheating, thus, the roots of the plant can be damaged.
Mullein is also used as fertilizer. It is necessary to make a mixture of cow dung and water (in a ratio of 1:10).
Mullein can improve the soil. But you need to use it carefully so that there is no harm to the roots from a large amount of manure.
Bird droppings can improve the crowns of apple trees. The fertilizer is used dry or in the form of an infusion. For the solution, the bird droppings are mixed with water (in a ratio of 1:15). You need to insist for a week or ten days.
Ash is rich in useful elements. As a top dressing, it is used both dry and diluted.
Peat perfectly absorbs moisture, thereby improving the soil and normalizing its moisture absorption.
Mineral fertilization
Phosphorus and potash fertilizers are also used in the fall to feed fruit-bearing trees. They are beneficial after the growing season. They are produced chemically and include nutrients for plants and soil. Mineral fertilizers are more concentrated.
Potash funds are brought in in the fall so that they can be absorbed by the spring. They help to increase the yield of the tree, its growth and improve the taste of the fruit. Fertilization will help young apple trees to strengthen.
Due to a lack of calcium, fruits will be poorly stored, and the leaves will begin to fade, brown and yellowish spots may appear on them.
Phosphate fertilizers are great for strengthening the root systems of young trees. They also play an important role in the formation of fruits. Phosphate fertilizers do not dissolve in water, so they should be applied when digging a near-trunk circle or through wells.
Due to the lack of phosphorus, the fruits become small, the leaves become dark green and fall off early.
Foliar top dressing in the autumn
With this method, fertilizers are sprayed onto the leaves of the trees, not under the root. Leaf plates are able to quickly absorb and assimilate nutrients. The effect can be observed already on the third day, but it will last only three weeks.
Such fertilizers are used when the plant urgently needs to be given a missing nutrient. It is recommended to carry out foliar mixtures regularly (2 times per season). The first time - when forming leaves; the second time - when the apple tree blossoms.
Foliar dressing should dissolve in water
When feeding with phosphorus, superphosphate is used. It is poorly soluble in water, so it must be poured with boiling water. After it is diluted to a concentration of 3%.
When feeding with potassium, a 1% solution of potassium sulfate is used.
Complex preparations are also used as foliar feeding. For example, stimulates. It contains humic substances, potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, as well as the necessary elements (copper, zinc, manganese).
Root mix
Fertilizer is applied not under the trunk, but within a radius of 50 cm from it. There will be thin working shoots of the roots that effectively absorb fertilizer.
Trees should be sprayed with a 2% solution of copper sulfate to prevent rot, scab. Fertilizer is applied to a depth in the dug tree-trunk circles. After the soil is mulched with peat, dry leaf, sawdust or needles.
How to fertilize with folk remedies
- Yeast dressing. They are able to improve the growth and development of young apple trees. When watering the trunks, a solution of live yeast is used. To create a solution, dissolve 0.5 kg of yeast and three glasses of sugar in warm water (9 l). The resulting solution is insisted for a week. Before use, the yeast mash is diluted with water in a ratio of 0.5 l to 10 l of water. For each apple tree, 2-3 liters of the mixture are consumed.
- Top dressing with ash. 2 kg of ash and 10 liters of water are mixed. The mixture is infused for a day and in dry weather is introduced into the soil. For each apple tree - 2-3 liters of the mixture.
- Potassium permanganate solution. It has a healing effect on plants, disinfects and promotes good root development. Once a month, the trunks are watered with a solution.
High-quality care and care of fruit-bearing trees gives its results. The gardener will receive a reward for his labors: in the spring the garden will delight you with beautiful flowering, and in the summer and autumn there will be a good harvest of ripe fruits in the garden.