Experts recommend planting fruit trees and berry bushes in early spring or autumn. This 2 ” hot ” season, when the owners of nurseries especially a lot of trouble due to the sharply increased demand for planting material.
Whether to overpay: the optimal age of the seedling
I believe, that the most the best age fruit for landing 1-2 year. These seedlings are optimal for the buyer and the price (they are cheaper), and survival (it is quite high). You can, of course, focus on 3 years, and older age, but in this case it is desirable that the plants were with a closed root system. After all, seedlings with an open root system after planting and transplanting are ill for a long time. So, while the three-five-year-old with an open root system will be sick, the one-year-old with a closed root system will already grow up and give the first harvest. In General, I do not see the point to buy adult seedlings.
When to plant
A seedling with a closed root system can be planted throughout the growing season (from April to October, and sometimes longer). Autumn planting should be carried out at least 2-3 weeks before the onset of frost. If you decide to plant a hot summer, it is better to wait for the coolest weather. But if you are able to provide the plant with proper watering, it can be planted in the heat – there is nothing wrong. Once again, I emphasize that such a landing is safe only against the background of subsequent irrigation.
But the planting of fruit seedlings with an open root system should be strictly timed to the rest period of the plant. It can be either early spring or a longer period in autumn (about mid – late September and further weather).
With the autumn purchase of seedlings with an open root system, I believe that it is better not to plant them, but to dig. This recommendation is due to the fact that the plant does not yet have a sufficient correlation between the underground and aboveground parts. It is recommended to dig fruit seedlings in an inclined position-so that they do not die in the winter from dehydration.
Purity of variety
Unfortunately, there is a global problem of re-grading in our horticulture due to the low qualification of agronomic personnel. And, of course, a lot depends on this issue from the gardener – you need a very responsible approach to the selection of the nursery, where you get the planting material. I recommend to contact the producers of planting material, and not to the nurseries that are engaged in repurchase, because the actual quality can only guarantee the first.
What a good seedling looks like
If you buy a plant with an open root system in the fall, it should be deprived of leaves. This operation is carried out according to the rules in the nursery before digging these seedlings.
If you plant a plant with a closed root system, then deprivation of leaves is not required, since you do not actually transplant the plant, but pass without breaking the root clump. You carefully remove it from the container (sometimes it is even better to cut the container) and, without breaking the root system, put it in a pre-prepared pit.
Naturally, on the acquired plants there should be no signs of disease and pests – the seedling should be healthy, at least externally.
Landing
It is necessary to prepare well the seats. In our cattery we always give a memo with recommendations, which describes in detail how and what to do. It is also available on the website. But if the cattery does not provide you with such information, then it will have to be extracted independently. I recommend to refer to the specialized literature: the most optimal – a textbook on horticulture for higher education.
Planting holes need to be prepared in good faith, with the introduction of certain norms of organic and mineral fertilizers. For our zone, where the soil is mostly acidic (these rules vary for different cultures), it is also necessary to make dolomite flour or chalk.
If we are talking specifically about fruit trees, then when you buy be sure to ask the seller on which rootstock grafted plant, as rootstock affects the winter hardiness of the plant, and its durability, and the requirements for fixing (need or do not need a count – it is very important). In addition, the type of rootstock will depend on the degree of penetration of the root neck. If the plant is on a seed rootstock, the root neck is not buried. If the plant on a clone rootstock, on the contrary, is buried almost before vaccination.
Success of the first wintering
It is important to help overwinter young plants that have just been planted. It is necessary to mulch the stem circle, and the plant itself is wrapped from rodents with nylon material. You can also independently cut strips of white nonwoven fabric and wrap them around the barrel like bandages. Do it after leaf fall. Wrap the seedling should be completely, to the top, and tightly. Use for this is breathable material – once again I will focus. This protection from rodents, plus protection from winter desiccation.
If there is a threat of damage to fruit seedlings by hares, then only the fence around the perimeter of the site and the grid around the trunks will be saved. That is, in addition, around each tree you need to build an individual fence.
It is also desirable in the autumn whitewash trunks. Young saplings are recommended to whitewash with slaked lime, but not ready acrylic paint which is on sale in shops. This paint is suitable only for adult plants. Slaked lime will cause less damage to the tender bark of young seedlings. Whitewash should be as high as possible, and even better to cover with lime not only the trunk but also the base of skeletal branches.
All the talk about the fact that due to the wash plants stop breathing and die, are without any Foundation. All life whitewashed, white and will whitewash. This is necessary to prevent sunburn. Although, in principle, winding barrels and whitewashing – this interchangeable arrangements. If you have already wrapped the trunk, you will not need whitewashing. Then I recommend the spring to remove the coil in cloudy weather, the plants do not turned sharply in the sun.
In the spring, when I removed the cover, it is necessary to immediately carry out formative pruning. Here is a question of individual. On pruning a single recommendation for all fruit can not be given, it depends not only on the type of plant, but also its age.
And some more important tips
Sometimes plants are sold with a winter vaccination-they can be distinguished by the film remaining at the site of vaccination. We recommend to remove this film in late autumn or early spring – the main thing is not to forget to do it, so that later on the trunk is not formed constriction.
In addition, the plants can hang a tag with the variety name is also a gardeners forget to remove. As a result, all the same constrictions. And when selling the label should be on each plant-this is an important condition that will help you determine the grade.
Leave a Reply