Rules for feeding cherries in the fall and the selection of the best fertilizers for these purposes
Correct autumn feeding of cherries is a guarantee of a rich harvest for the next season. The main thing in this procedure is to add the nutrient mixture in a timely manner.
How to properly feed, how to feed cherries in August and September - only relevant tips and tricks.
The content of the article
What cherries need in autumn
All stone fruit trees deplete the soil, sucking out nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from it. Trace elements are actively washed away by melt and rainwater. With a deficiency of nutrients, the growth and development of the tree slows down, the quality of fruiting decreases, and the vulnerability to pests and diseases increases.
To replenish the stock of useful microelements, autumn feeding of cherries is required. Additional advantages of the procedure - increased frost resistance before the coming winter, laying the foundations for the future harvest.
Reference. Cherry is an unpretentious and hardy plant. For feeding, use any fertilizers and mixtures. The only rule is the absence of nitrogen in the composition. The element activates growth processes, reduces winter hardiness of the culture.
Terms of making autumn dressings
Features of the cherry tree - early fruiting, rapid end of the growing season, early hibernation. Top dressing is applied in early autumn. A later procedure will be ineffective, since the nutrients will not have time to be absorbed, and the cherry will already go into a dormant state.
The exact dates depend on the weather conditions in the region. After the completion of fruiting, 3-4 weeks are expected (time for stopping the movement of juices), then fertilizers are applied.
Dates vary: from late August for northern regions with short summers to early October for the south. For regions with a temperate climate, the feeding procedure begins in early September, and is completed by 21-25.
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Feeding calendar by month
| Month | purpose | Top dressing |
|---|---|---|
| August | Gradual preparation of the fruit tree for winter begins. | Nitrogen fertilizers are excluded from permissible fertilizers. In August, they bring in azofoska, diammofoska. |
| September | Fruiting is complete. Active preparation of cherries for cold weather. | Emphasis on potassium-phosphorus mixtures. Potassium monophosphate, superphosphate and analogs are used. The mixture is applied under loosening or in the holes. |
| October November | Prevention and elimination of garden parasites. | After the first frost, the cherries are sprayed with a urea solution - 500-700 g per 10 liters of water. |
Types of autumn dressings for cherries
For cherries, standard types and feeding schemes are used. They differ in the application technique and the means used:
- Root. The mixture is applied strictly to the root, combined with watering. This type includes mineral fertilizers and any organic matter (humus, bird droppings, compost).
- Foliar dressing or spraying. Usually carried out during flowering and after the flowers have fallen off. In autumn, this type of dressing is recommended to compensate for iron deficiency. Iron sulfate is used (3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). The procedure is carried out after the first frost.
Fertilizers
The main criterion by which fertilizers are distinguished from each other is composition. Based on this characteristic, the mixtures are divided into organic, mineral and combined.
For autumn feeding of cherries, the use of all types is allowed, except for nitrogen-containing ones:
- Organic. Allowed for cherry trees over 4 years old. The first most popular in this group is chicken droppings. Next comes compost, rotted manure, peat, sawdust.
- Mineral. The best options for cherries in the fall are complex phosphorus or potassium mixtures: superphosphate, potassium sulfate, potassium chloride, phosphate rock.
- Balanced - fertilizers, which include several elements. An example for cherries is nitroammofoska.
The best fertilizers for cherries in autumn
Both organic and mineral varieties are used as autumn feeding. The only rule is mandatory alternation: if organic matter was introduced in the spring, mineral compositions are used in the fall.
Ready funds
List of popular and effective drugs:
- "AgroMag BOR" - 20-25 g per 1 m² of area;
- "Plantafol" - 15-25 ml of the working mixture per 1 m²;
- "Fertika Autumn" - 30-40 g per 1 m², double processing is required;
- "Baikal EM-1" - 100 ml per 10 liters of water, in the near-stem circle - 3 liters of liquid;
- "Novofert Universal" - 20 g per 10 liters of water.
Compounds of mineral fertilizers will also be effective:
- 2 tbsp. l. potassium chloride on 1 m² of land under the trunk circle. The powder is spread evenly over the entire area.
- 300 g of superphosphate and 180 g of potassium chloride in the trunk circle of one cherry.
- 3 tbsp. l. superphosphate and 2 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water. The rate of liquid fertilizing for a young tree is 8 liters, for an adult cherry - 15 liters.
Folk recipes
Popular folk recipes for cherries are presented in the table.
| Ingredients | Preparation and application |
|---|---|
| Chicken droppings | Take 1-1.5 kg of raw materials for 4 liters of water. Mix, leave to ferment for 2 days. Then bring the volume to 10 liters, stir thoroughly.
Pour into the trunk circle from 5 to 7 liters of finished raw materials, depending on the age and size of the cherry. |
| Compost | Do not mix with water, as it will turn into ammonium nitrate. For cherries up to 7 years old - 1.5-2 kg per 1 m² of the near-trunk zone, for older trees - 2.5-3 kg. |
| Wood ash | 0.5-1 kg per 1 m² of soil. For mature trees, a total of about 1.5 kg of ash will be required. Embedding depth - 10 cm. |
| Crushed eggshell | 1-2 tbsp. l. for 1 m² before digging the land under the cherry.
The purpose of the application is to enrich the soil with calcium, to reduce excessive acidity. |
| Crushed chalk | Spread 1-1.5 kg evenly around the outer circumference of the cherry tree.
Another option is to mix the chalk with water until you get a liquid chatterbox, pour over the cherries in a circle. |
| Sawdust | They loosen the soil, absorb excess moisture. They are used in the form of mulch - in the fall they make a "pillow" of sawdust 3-5 cm thick around the cherry. |
How to fertilize cherries correctly in autumn
There are several universal rules for feeding. Be sure to follow the algorithm and perform all actions carefully and carefully. Only if the procedure is carried out properly, the cherry will receive the maximum of nutrients.
For 1-2 days before feeding, abundant watering is required. Water will "revive" soil microorganisms. 5-6 buckets of water are poured under each cherry (3-6 years old), for older trees - 8-10 buckets.
Step-by-step instruction:
- Remove dried and damaged branches, remove weeds from the trunk circle.
- Loosen the soil in the trunk circle. They work with a chopper very carefully, since the roots of the cherry are high.
- Apply fertilizer. Sprinkle evenly or pour over the solution in a circle.
- Loosen the soil, cover the tree trunk circle with mulch. The use of sawdust is recommended.
Features of autumn feeding by region
The general principles apply to all regions. In a specific area, only the timing of the work differs. Also, adjustments are made by the specific characteristics of the soil - fertility and acidity.
In the Moscow region, poor sod-podzolic or podzolic species, loams prevail. An exception is the south of the region, where the land is fertile.For stable growth and fruiting, autumn fertilizing of cherries is required. The mixture is brought in in the second decade of September, if the autumn is warm - in early October. As a top dressing, purchased mineral mixtures are usually used here.
The middle lane, the Ural region - places where different types of soil are found, but all of them are not considered highly fertile. The optimal time for feeding is the first days of September, since the first frosts are already possible in October.
The climatic conditions of Siberia allow growing only a few varieties of cherries. Usually these are early varieties and dwarf trees with increased frost resistance. Their features are the rapid completion of fruiting and the early period of "hibernation". They start feeding cherries in Siberia in August, and finish all work by the end of summer.
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Conclusion
Autumn feeding of cherries is one of the mandatory seasonal activities for crop care. The timing for making the mixtures is different: from August to October. The exact dates depend on the climatic conditions of the growing region.
In autumn, cherries are fed with any nutrient composition, except for nitrogen-containing ones. Ready-made store preparations, mineral or organic mixtures are introduced into the trunk circle. Top dressing is carried out after preliminary preparation of the tree - sanitary pruning (elimination of dried parts), removal of weeds and abundant watering.