Fruit trees are like people, those who are good at health preservation, full of energy, shining brightly, and have outstanding benefits; Those who are not good at maintaining good health may experience mental fatigue, dull expressions, and inability to support themselves. So, when fertilizing fruit trees, fruit farmers must carefully maintain and adjust according to the soil particle structure, soil nutrition, and tree age of their orchards, and cherish the life of fruit trees.
1、 You can't do whatever you want when encountering problems.
The growth and development of fruit trees are similar to natural phenomena, with spring flowering, summer elongation, autumn harvest, and winter storage. Some fruit farmers do not apply fertilizers based on the period when the fruit trees need them, but rather according to their own feelings. They apply fertilizers based on their busy and idle labor, resulting in imbalances in the reproductive and nutritional growth of fruit trees, such as excessive growth of branches and leaves, weak growth of the tree body, and the formation of a large number of physiological fruit drops or failure to color when needed. Missing the optimal fertilization period for fruit trees greatly reduces the yield increase effect. From September to November before winter, nutrients are absorbed and stored in the bark, wood, flower buds, leaf buds, and roots to supply for flowering, fruiting, and leaf growth in the following spring. However, many fruit farmers do not water and fertilize during this period, which affects nutrient storage and production in the following year.
2、 Fertilization is not enough, it should be based on the soil and actual conditions of the fruit trees in your orchard.
Fertilization needs to be determined based on comprehensive factors such as the plot, strength and size of fruit trees, yield, fertilizer type, and soil fertility conditions. Blindly applying too much fertilizer within a certain range can cause root and seedling burning, which not only wastes money and acidifies the soil, but also burns and kills fruit trees, resulting in reduced yield. So scientific fertilization is necessary.
Some fruit farmers do not determine the amount of fertilizer based on factors such as fertilizer type, tree vigor, tree size, yield, and soil fertility, but blindly believe that the more fertilizer applied, the better. The result is an imbalance between the supply and demand of nutrients in the tree body. In severe cases, the roots burn and the tree dies, leading to the growth of diseases. In mild cases, there is an imbalance between nutritional and reproductive growth, with only trees growing and little or no fruit.
3、 The nutrition of fruit trees is not only nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Many fruit farmers lack knowledge of the characteristics of fertilizer needed for fruit trees. They buy some rumored nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium compound fertilizers or single organic fertilizers and apply them with just one watering, and everything will be fine. Little did they know that forming a fruit requires not only three major elements, but also a certain amount of various elements such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, silicon, iron, zinc, etc. When fruit trees suffer from yellow leaf disease, small leaf disease, black spot disease, rot disease, and low yield, they can only be helpless. The correct fertilization should be based on the nutrient status of the soil, combining the three major elements of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as trace elements and microbial organic fertilizers, in order to meet the growth and development needs of fruit trees and achieve high yields.
4、 It is necessary to apply fertilizers scientifically according to the growth and nutritional period of fruit trees.
September to November is the peak period of fertilizer and water demand for fruit trees throughout the year. Firstly, the fruit needs to be enlarged; secondly, it needs to be colored; thirdly, it needs to provide the necessary nutrients for flower bud differentiation; fourthly, it needs to store nutrients for the bark, xylem, roots, branches, and leaf flower buds to provide various nutrients. But many fruit farmers are afraid of dropping a small amount of fruit at this time and do not fertilize or water them. They are eager to cherish the fruit, and most fruit farmers throw away the golden fertilization period and push it to November or even February or March of the following year. According to practical calculations, fertilization at the end of September and October accounts for 80% to 85% of the total nutrient storage in the tree body. Fertilization at the end of November and December, due to low temperatures, causes the root system of the tree to stop growing and the absorption rate to decrease. At this time, fertilization utilizes only 65% to 70% of the stored nutrients in various parts of the fruit tree body, especially with high fixation of phosphorus, and relatively low utilization rate of nitrogen due to low temperatures. Not fertilizing in a timely manner due to fear of knocking off a few fruits is a small loss, which affects the yield of the following year.
5、 Autumn postpartum fertilization is very important.
Many fruit farmers are afraid that fertilizing in autumn will cost them money, and when the "late frost" freezes in March or April of the following year, it will be a waste of bamboo baskets to fetch water. Therefore, they intentionally do not fertilize. They wait until the next spring when the flowers are warm and the fruits are "sitting" down before fertilizing and watering in large quantities. As a result, the trees and flower buds store less nutrients in autumn, and the freezing damage is exacerbated when the late frost invades. The result of not seeing rabbits and not scattering eagles goes against the growth and development laws of fruit trees, causing the trees to become weak and artificially leading to fruit drop, reduced yield, and a decrease in high-quality fruits. There are products without commodities, let alone fine ones, and some even have half a tree of flowers and half a tree of fruits, causing many unnecessary losses to the growth and physiology of fruit trees.
6、 There should be scientific fertilization methods.
Many fruit farmers are afraid that the fertilizer will not be absorbed by the roots, so they try to apply it as close as possible to the roots, less than 20 centimeters away from the trunk. In some cases, they even apply it to the roots of the trunk. As a result, due to too close and concentrated fertilization, the edges of the fruit tree leaves dry up after a few months, and the leaves turn yellow and fall off. Finally, the tree is burned to death, losing its residual weight. The agricultural proverb goes, 'It's better to let the roots search for fertilizer than to let the fertilizer search for the roots.' This is because one is afraid of fertilizing too closely and damaging the roots.
Fertilization is not as close as possible. Our fruit tree fertilization generally adopts circular ditch application and trenching application. If it is too close and trenching is done, it is easy to damage the root system of the fruit tree. In fact, the fertilization distance is generally 40 centimeters away from the trunk, and it is better to apply in circular grooves around the edge of the tree crown.
Many fruit farmers disregard the variety and age of the trees when fertilizing, and do not pay attention to science when fertilizing. They try to apply as deeply as possible when possible. The growth of plants cannot be without water, fertilizer, air, heat, and light. The sunlight generally spreads to a soil layer of about 40 centimeters deep, and most of the absorbing roots are concentrated in the 20-30 centimeter soil layer, which is the concentrated area for nutrient absorption. These roots are composed of short branches, flower buds, and fruits. Some fruit farmers apply fertilizers up to 80 centimeters, some up to 1 meter. After 4 years, the land is deeply plowed every 0.8 to 1 meter, and once watered, nutrients penetrate into the lower layer with the water, making it difficult for the roots to absorb the fertilizer, resulting in three major wastes of manpower, fertility, and funds. The correct fertilization method should be to apply fertilizer up to 15-20 centimeters, scattered throughout the garden. As long as the treetops are connected, do not dig holes or open trenches, which is both labor-intensive and damaging to the roots. After applying 15-20 centimeters deep, water it in a timely manner. The water seeps down and combines with the absorbing roots, which is twice the result with half the effort
7、 The use of farm manure should be cautious.
Organic fertilizer is nutritious, but its content is low, slow to improve, and more importantly, it needs to be composted into mature manure. Only when mature manure is applied to the soil can it be absorbed and utilized by plants. When raw manure is applied to the soil, it needs to be composted into mature manure, which inevitably generates certain heat energy and harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which can burn a large number of absorbing roots. There is a saying in agriculture that goes, 'Cold fertilizer trees, hot fertilizer vegetables, root damage on raw manure.' Mild cases of burning leaves and dead branches on raw manure can result in tree death, while severe cases can lead to tree death. Cow, sheep, pig, and chicken manure must be fully fermented and decomposed before use. There are many fruit farmers who die from neglecting the growth and maturity of trees due to fertilization, which should be taken as a warning.
Many fruit farmers do not use fertilizer to determine yield, or use yield to determine fertilizer for scientific fertilization. Instead, they apply large amounts of fertilizer in large years and small amounts in small years, and do not apply fertilizer until there are no fruits; Some people have simple plans, such as flattening the big, small, strong, and weak trees in a one size fits all manner. The result is aimless, with excessive yields in the big year and excessive tree growth in the small year, leading to a high incidence of rot disease. The reason is that there is an excessive amount of fruit hanging during the Chinese New Year, which poses a hidden risk of rot disease. The fertilization is not a comprehensive formula, but a single three element compound fertilizer.
Most fruit farmers are aware of underground fertilization, but they underestimate or do not have a clear understanding of the role of foliar spraying, which leads to serious physiological diseases such as yellow leaf disease, small leaf disease, fruit shrinkage disease, and early leaf fall disease, and a decrease in leaf photosynthetic function. Some fruit farmers are lazy to apply base fertilizer in autumn, afraid of trouble and trying to save effort, and only apply liquid fertilizer during the fruit growth period, or spray apply liquid fertilizer. Foliar fertilizer and liquid flushing fertilizer are quick acting supplementary fertilizers, while autumn application of organic fertilizer, three major element fertilizer, and trace element fertilizer, combined use is the fundamental fertilizer. Fertilizer has its uniqueness and irreplaceability. Only through comprehensive fertilization can high and stable yields be achieved year after year. No single fertilizer can achieve high quality, high yield, and stable yield.
8、 Scientific management of orchards.
Due to limited water resources, or the inability to synchronize water supply and fertilization time, or insufficient rainfall, after fertilizing fruit trees, the fertilizer cannot be dissolved by water due to the lack of synchronization between water and fertilizer. The fertilizer depends on the roots, and the roots depend on the fertilizer, making it difficult to absorb and utilize. Regardless of whether it is water or dry land, it is necessary to use soil moisture to fertilize, create soil moisture to fertilize, and synchronize water and fertilizer in order to achieve the goal of fertile soil, strong trees, and abundant fruits.
A common problem among many fruit farmers is that when fertilizing, whether by digging holes or digging trenches, they simply sprinkle fertilizer into the holes or trenches and fill them with soil. This often results in concentrated fertilization, which not only burns out some of the roots, but also has low fertilizer utilization efficiency. Because fruit tree roots are distributed in different depths, areas with fertilizer are prone to root burning, while areas without fertilizer have no fertilizer to absorb. The correct approach is to mix various fertilizers with soil before backfilling into the hole or ditch, which is beneficial for all layers of roots to absorb and improve absorption rate without burning the roots due to fertilization.
Due to the continuous expansion of the crown of fruit trees, it is difficult to apply fertilizers in the orchard. Many fruit farmers often use flushing fertilization to supplement nutrients. However, due to improper methods, several or even dozens of trees are often burned to death at the water inlet. The reason is long-term fertilization, where water enters the ground and immediately flushes the fertilizer. As a result, the fertilizer at the water inlet takes a long time to irrigate, infiltrates more, and is absorbed by the trees in large quantities, causing root burnout and leading to tree leaf shedding, fruit drop, and even death. The correct method should be to pour water into the ground until it reaches about half of the tree row area, and then slowly and intermittently add the fertilizer to the water. When the water reaches the endpoint, the fertilizer will flow evenly to the endpoint, so as not to burn the roots. In short, fruit trees are like humans. Normal growth and development require not only sunlight, water, air, and a suitable environment for growth, survival, and reproduction, but also timely energy supplementation. Just like how humans eat, if they eat too early, too late, or in insufficient quantities, they cannot achieve a reasonable diet of eating well in the morning, being full in the middle, and eating less in the evening, which can lead to illness or premature death. Therefore, in the fertilization of fruit trees, it is necessary to use quantitative, timed, mild, moderate, and balanced fertilizers and water. The distance and depth should be appropriate, and a large amount of elements and trace elements should be complete. This varies from tree to tree in order to ensure that the tree is moderately strong, robust, and produces abundant fruits with first-class benefits.
9、 Scientific soil testing
Due to years of unscientific fertilization, soil pollution and damage have been severe. The nutrient absorption of fruit trees is severely affected by organic matter deficiency, pH imbalance, almost no trace elements, and excessive harmful heavy metals. Based on our years of experience and scientific research, scientific soil testing and the use of environmentally friendly, ecological, and high absorption and utilization rate packaged pollution-free fertilizers are essential for our fruit farmers to achieve long-term high yields.