The apple tree is a popular fruit tree that requires care.
Experienced gardeners know that it is not worth expecting a good harvest every year if proper care is not provided.
Therefore, it is worth considering 4 methods that will help preserve the existing apple harvest or increase it.
Recommendations were shared by the expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", landscape designer and agronomist Anastasia Kovrizhnykh .
Thinning
This procedure is important for young apple trees that are in the formation stage. If the apple tree has given a good harvest, but its taste leaves much to be desired, it will prefer to rest next season.
This can be avoided by manually removing the central fruits immediately after they have formed. It is also worth inspecting the tree and immediately removing fruits that are small or diseased.
Timely thinning of ovaries allows to maintain the general condition of the fruit tree. The thinning procedure should be carried out throughout the season.
Experienced gardeners do it more simply: they start shaking the branch, the bad fruits should fall off on their own. This method is tough, but it can be called one of the simplest and most effective.
Trimming
Pruning raises many questions for most summer residents. You can even find examples when experienced summer residents try to prune less often.
Another reason for refusing to prune is that summer residents simply do not have time, because during this period it is necessary to take care of other crops on the site.
Pruning should be done regularly after a thorough inspection of the tree. It is necessary to find dry, damaged and infected branches. There are several tips for pruning.
1. The cut site should be chosen at a distance of 4-6 centimeters from the bud. The bud should grow outward.
2. Pruning starts from the upper branches.
3. Shorten by one third of the length.
4. The tree growth with such pruning should not be more than 4 meters.
It is also worth carefully examining the tree; all damaged and infected branches should be removed.
Watering
Watering fruit trees is often ignored. And if watering is done, it is not abundant. There is a basic rule: watering should be done 4 times per season. The watering scheme looks like this:
• the first watering is carried out before the first buds have blossomed;
• second watering 2 weeks after the end of flowering;
• approximately 3 weeks before harvesting, the third watering is carried out;
• the last time to water is in early autumn. This should be done to prevent the wood from drying out in winter.
The amount of water is always determined individually. If we are talking about young plants, 3 buckets of water are enough for them. Mature fruit trees need from 6 to 10 buckets of water.
Top dressing
Apple trees develop quietly without additional feeding, so it is not surprising that many ignore them. At the beginning of the season, it is worth adding nitrogen fertilizers.
Next, complex fertilizers with potassium and phosphorus are needed. Fertilizers are stopped 2 weeks before the start of harvesting.
