Chalky soil on the site - how to improve it and grow a garden
A GARDEN ON THE PLOT WHERE THE SOIL IS CHALK!
Peasants, not knowing soil science, determine its properties and degree of fertility by the appearance of the soil. The black earth is good, and the white is infertile - this is the meaning of the sayings of the French, Spaniards, ancient Romans. And here is a German proverb that is related to gardening: "Black earth will bring a large harvest of fruit." So what, readers will say, if there are chalky soils on our plots, then we will not be able to grow a garden?
The archive preserved an article by E.G. Bisti, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, with an unambiguous answer: it is possible to grow a garden on chalky soils.
But for this you need to choose the appropriate varieties and rootstocks, properly care for the soil and fruit trees.
Apple and pear trees should first of all be resistant to chlorosis (yellowing of leaves with a lack of iron in their tissues), and rootstocks should also not succumb to this disease. At the Rossoshanskaya Experimental Station, studies have shown that the best rootstocks under these conditions are forest apple trees and seedlings of hardy varieties of the middle zone. But according to our data, apple tree seedlings with the use of red Chinese as a rootstock are not at all suitable - a large tree fall.
Of the varieties released in the Central Chernozem zone, the most resistant to chlorosis are: Northern synapse, Rossoshanskoe striped, Pepin saffron, and from the Volga varieties - Borovinka and Renet bergamot.
Stone fruits tolerate an excess of carbonates and a lack of moisture in the soil more easily than pome ones, and suffer less from chlorosis. On the Cretaceous chernozem, both apricots and cherries of vigorous varieties grafted on antipka grew well and bore fruit, suffered little from chlorosis. But Lyubskaya on carbonate soils grew worse than Kentskaya, Ostheim Griot and other vigorous varieties. It is more demanding on moisture, quickly weakens and falls out.
If the upper layer of soil stained with humus is 35-40 cm thick, then cherries and apricots put up with purely chalky subsoil.
When planting fruit trees, both pome and stone fruits, on carbonate soil, its processing before planting seedlings should not be deeper than 20-25 cm, so as not to turn up the subsoil with lime or chalk. Deep pre-planting will reduce both survival and growth of cherries and apricots.
See also: Clay, sod-podzolic soil in the area - what is growing and how to improve
The humus layer of chalk and other carbonate soils is small, so the roots of trees are placed superficially and autumn digging should be shallow - only 10-12 cm.
On carbonate soils, fruit plants become more susceptible to chlorosis under conditions unfavorable for root growth - cold weather, waterlogging of the soil, or, conversely, a lack of moisture in it.
It has also been noted that chlorosis in plants increases with the introduction of alkaline fertilizers (calcium cyanamide, fresh manure). To fight the disease, it is necessary to introduce into the soil organic iron compounds, complexones (or chelates, as they are called in
foreign literature). If they are not available, fruit trees can be repeatedly sprayed with ferrous sulfate at a concentration of 0,5% with the addition of a small amount of adhesives. For young and tender leaves, the dosage is reduced, test spraying is carried out. It is better to process plants in the evening so that the solution lasts longer and is absorbed by the leaves during calm night hours.
In apple and pear trees, good results were obtained by injection into the trunk and skeletal branches of preparations from salts containing iron (citric acid iron, nitrate iron, iron vitriol).
It is better to apply medicinal salts in powdered or crystalline form into holes made by a drill in the trunk and branches of a tree. Holes (from 1 to 20) are drilled with some inclination to the center of the trunk. The diameter of the hole is 5-10 mm, the depth (depending on the thickness of the trunk or branch) is from 1,5 to 7-8 cm. From 0,5 to 3 g of salt is added to each hole.
Salt should not reach the living tissue (cambia) of the tree to avoid burns. After making the preparation, the hole is closed with a wooden cork and covered with garden putty. An improvement in the condition of plants with chlorosis is also observed when ferrous sulfate is introduced into the soil along the periphery of the tree crown - where the main part of the roots is located.
Iron vitriol in the form of small pieces is brought into furrows or wells, watered and covered with earth mixed with humus. Up to 60 g of vitriol is introduced into each well to a depth of 100 cm. The earth is taken only dark-colored from the upper horizon. The best time to apply is late autumn and early spring when the plants are dormant.
Chlorosis of fruit plants must be fought constantly, repeating the treatment many times. But the main thing is to choose more chlorine-resistant breeds, varieties and rootstocks of fruit plants for laying the garden.
Reference by topic: Preparation of sandy soil and its improvement
VIDEO INCL. ABOUT SIDERATS ON CHALKY SOIL
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