Aronia: how to achieve annual fruiting
TO HAVE A HARVEST EVERY YEAR…
I would like to read about chokeberry. It has been growing for me for 8 years, but practically does not bear fruit. I collect no more than half a liter of berries from a bush. How to properly grow it?
Tatyana Filimonova, Tver region
Answered by Artem Gushcha, agronomist
In order to receive annual stable yields of chokeberry berries, it is advisable to know the basic rules for growing this crop.
Bushes should be planted in open, sunny areas of the garden. In shady places (w / ie buildings and under the crowns of trees) it grows, but lays few flower buds and bears little fruit. The distance between the bushes should be at least 2 m so that they do not shade each other.
The best soils for chokeberry are medium-fertile sandy loam and light loam. When grown on very fertile soils and heavy loams, it abundantly forms a ground vegetative mass and weakly lays flower buds, which leads to a decrease in yield.
For the formation of the harvest of berries, the water regime is also important. Although the plant is quite drought-resistant, it requires watering in dry and elevated areas, especially if the dry period occurs during the filling and ripening of berries. With a lack of moisture, the berries are formed small and low-juicy.
In one place, chokeberry can grow for 30 years or more. Therefore, fruit-bearing bushes in the fall after harvesting every 2-3 years are fed with phosphate and potash fertilizers, as well as organic matter - compost or humus. Every spring, nitrogen fertilizers are applied under them - 10-20 g per 1 sq. m near the trunk circle. It is impossible to overfeed with nitrogen so that the bushes do not grow green mass to the detriment of fruiting.
It is necessary to properly form the crown of the bush and prune annually. In the year of planting, all branches are cut off from the seedling, leaving stumps with 2-3 buds.
The following year, 3-5 of the most developed shoots are left from the shoots that have appeared, the rest are cut out at the very base. The same is done with young shoots for the 3-5th year.
An adult bush by 5-6 years old should have 15-20 branches of different ages. The most fruitful are 4-7-year-old branches.
Therefore, starting from the 7th year after planting, all branches older than seven years are cut out in the bush, leaving strong annual shoots instead. Remove and all numerous small shoots.
GROWING ARONIA - SECRETS, TIPS AND FEEDBACK
SECRETS OF YIELD OF ARONIA
Chokeberry (or chokeberry) has been growing in our garden for several years. I love her for unpretentiousness, decorativeness and useful fruits. In late May - early June, this perennial shrub 1,5-3 m high from the Rosaceae family pleases with beautiful white flowers, and every year in autumn I collect a large crop of its delicious, shiny, с bluish bloom of black berries.
I plant chokeberry in autumn at the end of September, on a cloudy day or in the evening, although this can also be done in the spring, in the second half of April, before the buds open. For planting, I choose a sunny place, as she prefers well-lit places.
Aronia does not like saline, sandy, dry soils, as well as high levels of acidity. I have loamy soil in my area, with a slight level of acidity, which is great for her. I dig a landing hole with a diameter of 60 cm and a depth of 50 cm.
If soils are poor, it is better to add a nutrient mixture of organic and mineral fertilizers mixed with the ground, which I do. I spread the roots well at the seedling, I deepen the root collar about 1,5 cm below the soil level.
After planting, I compact the soil and water it well, and then mulch. I cut off the aerial part of the plant, leaving only about 20 cm in height for better development of the root system. If there are several seedlings, then I plant them at a distance of at least 4 m so that they do not create a shadow.
In the first year, I water the chokeberry more often, and in the future - only if there is no rain for a long time and during the period of fruit formation. To better retain moisture, I do mulching.
Aronia is responsive to feeding, but since I use fertilizer when planting it, I start to apply it only in the third year. In the spring, I add 30 g of ammonium nitrate in dry form to the near-trunk circle, embedding it in the soil, after which I water the plants with ordinary, settled, non-cold water so as not to burn them.
In summer, I add 1 bucket of mullein, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, under the root.
In autumn, I apply 300 g of wood ash per plant, burying it in the soil.
If the land is rich in nutrients, then the amount of top dressing can be reduced.
Aronia forms many shoots, but with a strong thickening, the growth of branches weakens and yields decrease, so I regularly prune in the spring. On the bushes I usually leave 12-15 perennial fruit-bearing shoots of different ages with active growth, and I remove dried, broken, non-fruitful, basal shoots and offspring. On branches older than 7 years, the fruits become smaller, so I cut off such shoots. For bushes older than 10 years, every 4 years I do a rejuvenating pruning: I trim all the shoots to the level of the soil.
In order to prevent fungal diseases and from the appearance pests I treat the shrub with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture 2 times per season: in the spring, when the buds have not yet blossomed, and in the fall, after harvesting.
In autumn, I also burn all the garbage with fallen leaves, pests and pathogens, and dig up the soil.
Aronia can be propagated seeds, cuttings, layering, dividing the bush. I prefer propagation by layering. To do this, in the spring I pin its strong, intact shoots to the ground in small depressions. Throughout the season, I water them, loosen them, remove weeds, spud them, and next spring I carefully dig them out and plant them in a permanent place.
© Author: Svetlana Martynova, Orel (author's photo)
Reference by topic: To apple fruit every year
ARONIA - LANDING AND CARE ON VIDEO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Perennial flowers for the flower garden - which grow longer than all
- Ugly, crooked and watery cucumbers - what is the reason?
- Carrots are cracking - what to do?
- Is it possible to plant young seedlings in place of old trees?
- Mulberry cultivation - planting and care. Questions and answers
- If the terry jasmine is not blossoming buds
- How to grow roses from summer cuttings?
- Salt in the garden - is it useful or not?
- Preparing flocks for winter - pruning and covering
- Is it possible to apply only mineral fertilizers?
Subscribe to updates in our groups and share.
Let's be friends!
#
In the fall I brought viburnum and chokeberry from the Urals. Planted it. I felt sorry for the scraps, so I planted them in a glass and stuck them into a green briquette from the remaining bouquet. I poured some water. Please tell me what to do next? It won’t survive in water until spring, it needs to be planted. Maybe cut the briquette carefully and plant it in a pot with a stimulant?
#
Dear Fairuza Galimovna! In water, cuttings of chokeberry and viburnum root poorly or not at all. Viburnum is propagated by green cuttings. Your photo shows the escape. Cut it off, remove the bottom pair of leaves, and shorten the leaves of the top pair by half. Immerse the bottom of the cutting in a root formation stimulator (according to the instructions). Fill the pot with substrate (turf soil, sand, humus in a ratio of 3:1:1), plant the cutting in it, deepening it 1-5 cm. Cover the pot with a bag, creating a “greenhouse”. In spring, the rooted cuttings can be planted on the site. But you can leave it at home in pots until the fall, then put it in the basement for the winter. Bring the pots into the house in early spring and plant them in the garden in May. Chokeberry is propagated by woody cuttings. Cut a cutting 2-15 cm long from an existing branch. The cut at the top is made at an angle, at the bottom it is straight. It must have several developed buds. Plant the cuttings in a pot with soil at an angle of 20°, leaving 45 buds at the top, one of them should be at soil level. Compact the soil around the cuttings well, water and mulch with peat.
#
Why chokeberry shrinks
Previously, my chokeberry gave large juicy berries, but now the fruits are getting smaller every year. Foliage green, no pests found. What is the reason?
#
- Aronia is a fairly unpretentious plant, but it also requires some care. You can help the plant: feed with nitrogen fertilizers, loosen the soil, apply complex fertilizers in the fall. In addition, even if the bush has not changed outwardly, be sure to carry out sanitary and formative pruning. It improves the access of sunlight to all parts of the plant.