Autumn planting of seedlings - an interview with a specialist + a scheme for placing them in the garden
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AUTUMN IS THE BEST TIME FOR PLANTING SEEDLINGS!
And it doesn't seem like it's that hard of a job. Only now, for some reason, seedlings often take root poorly, get sick for a long time and even die. The summer resident blames, as a rule, the weather or an unscrupulous seller of planting material. And he does not realize that the reason is sometimes in the mistakes that he himself made during landing. To avoid such a situation, the recommendations of the candidate of agricultural sciences, breeder-phytopathologist of the Institute of Horticulture Yulia KONDRATENOK will help.
Yulia Georgievna, how to correctly calculate the landing time?
- The main sign we focus on is the maturation of the seedling, its readiness to leave for the winter. This means that he completed all the vegetative processes, stopped growth, laid the apical bud, dressed it with strong bud scales. That is, when you try to tilt the top, you will feel how elastic it is, and if you make a little effort, you will hear crackling. In such a seedling, the branches are already woody. By time - this is the end of September, but mostly - October. In the nursery of our institute, we begin to dig up seedlings in the second decade of October.
It happens that a farmer, either through an oversight or through malicious intent, in order to grow the most powerful seedling as possible, exceeds in the second half
fault summer doses of nitrogen fertilizers. And the seedling actively vegetates until frost. It has a thin top, soft, like a whip, sometimes you can even wind it around your finger. Pass by such a plant: after planting, it will most likely freeze even in a not very severe winter.
TIP: If you still decide to buy a 3-4-year-old seedling, then ask the nursery to cut the crown, reducing its volume.
But the sellers assure that the top can be cut off without problems ...
- If you are ready to spend your time and money after planting on the restoration of the seedling, its treatment, if you have not found a plant of this particular variety anywhere else, then you can take a chance and buy such a seedling.
What other signs when choosing a seedling will indicate that it is good?
- The seedling should not have ulcers, damage by pests or animals, depressions, areas of dead bark, large mechanical damage (small abrasions, thin small scratches are not terrible). Broken branches are not allowed. The bark should be smooth, even a little glossy. In an overdried seedling, the bark fades and begins to gather into small folds, as is the case with overdried skin on the hands.
Planting material with an open root system (OCS) should not have root breaks, especially tap roots, and they should not have any outgrowths. All these are the first signs of disease and, most likely, root cancer. If seals (balls) have formed on small roots, these areas must be cut off and the roots should be dipped in a clay mash before planting.
Some gardeners, in principle, shorten the roots of seedlings before planting ...
- This should be done in the case of damaged roots, especially crushed ones, which often happens when digging, when the seedling
forcefully pulled out of the ground. Broken roots must be “refreshed” with a sharp pruner so that the cuts are smooth. Only in this case, they heal well (root rot develops faster on soaked wounds). In general, the length of the roots should be at least 20 cm. It is not necessary to shorten them unnecessarily.
What is the optimal age for a seedling?
“It’s better to buy one-two-year-olds. Some amateur gardeners want 3-4 year old trees to plant and harvest immediately. But such plants (if they are with ACS) are hard to transplant. They may even stop fruiting for a while, despite the fact that the nursery has already produced a crop. The thing is that when digging, no matter how hard we try, some of the roots are lost, and the crown remains the same. As a result, the balance between the aboveground and underground parts is disturbed, and the remaining number of roots simply cannot provide all the buds of the crown with water and nutrients. And the tree often dries up.
And if the tree is sold with leaves?
- Despite digging, the plants continue to live, constantly evaporate water. And they do it mainly through the leaves. At the same time, the roots receive little moisture (plus a huge number of suction roots, as we have already said, remained in the ground). Now imagine what an imbalance occurs between the flow of water and its evaporation. Therefore, in no case should you sell and buy seedlings with leaves! But if you still bought, cut off the leaves immediately. And at home, put the tree for 2-3 hours (or even at night!) In a basin of water.
How long can a seedling be stored after purchase before planting?
- First of all, remember that even without leaves, a young plant actively breathes, loses water through the bark. Therefore, it is important that the roots of a seedling with ACS are moistened (in the nursery, it should be kept in a wet mixture of peat with sawdust, either in sawdust or dipped in a wet clay mash).
Of course, it is advisable to immediately plant the seedling in a permanent place after the purchase. But if it doesn’t work out, again, take care of the roots first: if possible, dip in a clay mash with the addition of a fungicide. Or moisten them, wrap them in wet burlap and lower the roots into a bag, tying it loosely around the stem (to periodically moisten the burlap). Store the seedling in a cool, dark place (ideally in a garage, basement). In such conditions, he will stand for a week.
A seedling planted in autumn in the new season will start growing 2-3 weeks earlier than the one planted in spring
How do you feel about the fact that many summer residents put rusty nails and tin cans into the landing pit for saturation with iron?
— Negatively. Some "experimenters" even drive nails into a tree trunk - they say that apples will be with iron. The soils in our middle lane are themselves quite rich in iron. And plants are not deficient in this element.
© Author: Victoria Gulko
LANDING PIT: AS CORRECT
SIZE
The first 2 years, the roots of the seedling are located mainly in the soil volume of the planting hole. And only then go beyond it. Therefore, at first it is important to provide a young plant with roots that are very shortened during digging, the best conditions for survival and growth.
For two-year-old apple tree seedlings grafted onto a vigorous rootstock, dig holes with a diameter of 1-1,2 m and a depth of 0,5-0,6 m. If the soil is sandy, poor - a little deeper. For annual seedlings, a slightly smaller planting hole is needed.
THE FORM
In order for the roots to develop correctly and evenly, the pit must be round, with sheer walls.
On dense clay soils, with excessive rainfall and irrigation, water can stagnate. This has a detrimental effect on the roots of plants. Therefore, you need to dig holes wider, but not so deep. Sandy soils with good water permeability do not have this problem.
© Author: Raisa MATVEEVA, Cand. Biol. science
See also: Choosing seedlings of fruit trees for planting in the garden - IMPORTANT advice from an agronomist
TREE PLACEMENT IN THE GARDEN
CULTURE | DISTANCE IN A ROW (M) | DISTANCE BETWEEN ROWS (M) |
Apple tree on seed stock | 4 | 5-6 |
Apple tree on a semi-dwarf rootstock | 3,5-4 | 3,5-5 |
Apple tree on a dwarf rootstock | 2-2,5 | 3-3,5 |
Pear on a vigorous rootstock | 4-5 | 5-6 |
Pear on a dwarf rootstock | 2,5 | 3 |
Cherry | 3,5-4 | 3,5-5 |
Cherry | 4-5 | 5-6 |
Plum | 2,5-3 | 4-5 |
Apricot | 3-4 | 5-6 |
Peach | 2-3 | 4-5 |
Walnut | 5-6 | 6-8 |
SAVE CARINKA'S MEMO
Reference by topic: Seed garden - a patented method of planting a seedling immediately in a permanent place
AUTUMN TREE PLANTING - VIDEO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- 3 recipes for whitewashing the garden in the fall - Dedovsky, Do it yourself and water emulsion
- How to root and grow cuttings of blue spruce CORRECTLY
- Whitewashing of fruit trees in February-March: how and when - questions and answers
- The nuances of spring planting: what suits different trees?
- What tree to plant next to the house
- Wintering nymphs in the basement in containers
- "Lazy" apple orchard care - my advice
- When is the best time to start pruning your garden?
- Old garden - rejuvenation, pruning and decoration (photo)
- Preparation of planting pit and soil for planting seedlings
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Let's fill the planting holes
Add rotted manure or compost to the planting hole as organic matter. On average, a regular pit requires 30-40 kg of humus or compost. If your garden has poor soil, then, in addition to organics, add 0,5-1 kg of superphosphate, 150 g of potassium chloride. On soils that are moderately and well supplied with nutrition, mineral fertilizers are not needed. You can also throw a handful of eggshells into the planting hole. When applying, mix the fertilizers with the top fertile layer of soil.
FRESH MANURE CANNOT BE APPLIED INTO PLANTING HOLES: IT RELEASES AMMONIA. WHICH POISONS THE ROOTS.
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How far?
If the seedlings are not dwarf, they will need a lot of space for full development. Be sure to consider this before buying and planting, otherwise in the future the plants will begin to thicken, hurt and bear less fruit. On average, the distance between trees should be 1,5-6 m, and between rows - 2,5-8 m (depending on the plant variety). When planting trees linearly, the distance between them should be 5-7 m. When planting in groups, one plant should have about 10 sq.m. Within the group, the distance between trees should be 2-5 m.
You can not plant seedlings too close to buildings and fences, so as not to obscure the plantings of neighbors. Place tall trees (more than 15 m) 3 m from the fence, medium-sized (10-15 m) - 2 m, and undersized (up to 10 m) - 1 m.
Experienced gardeners go to the trick and plant trees in steps - from undersized to tall. This way all plants will receive enough light.