Preparing the soil for planting apple trees
Apple production is a very long process. When deciding to plant an orchard, we must know that it will cost us a lot of time, money, sacrifices and sleepless nights. I know from my own example that planning an apple tree cultivation is done at least 2 years in advance. Then we begin to fertilize the soil, we fertilize for a certain period until the soil is cultivated. I use a simple and very well-known fertilizer (saperfaster-simple). It has a lot of phosphorus, which is responsible for good rooting and development of the root system in the young planting. After a period of artificial fertilization, you move to the phase of cultivating the soil for planting. A very important factor then, is the use of organic fertilizer (mushroom bed, manure).
Selecting a variety and rootstock for a apple tree
Each orchardist has his own date for planting trees, it is autumn or spring. After such a long process of preparing the soil for our orchards, we face a rather complicated decision. This is the choice of the right variety and, more importantly, the “rootstock of the fruit tree”. We will mention some very well-known rootstocks or semi-rootstocks. These are the M26, M9, P14, P60, M7, A14 rootstocks. We invite you to a description of these rootstocks in the next blog post. I personally prefer the M9 rootstock because I run an orchard with dense planting, mostly small-fruited varieties. Before planting the trees I soak the root system with Black Jack preparation, I soak it for about 5 hours. After taking it out of this preparation then I put it straight into the soil.
Caring for apple trees during the first weeks after planting
Once planted, the care begins. This is very similar to the situation with a baby. When you nurture it and spend a lot of time with it, it automatically develops better. The same in an orchard. Nothing will grow by itself. From the time I planted the trees in April until about June 25, I pour a teaspoon of lime nitrate once every 7 to 10 days. Plus, of course, I irrigate the young orchard. It is also important to cut the increments of trees after planting. It is responsible for forming the fruit crown from the very beginning.
What to do when the apple tree is already fruiting
Such trees start to give decent yields from the 3rd year, of course, if we take care of proper lighting. In this aspect winter pruning is very important. From the 4th year you use mechanical pruning, which is a very important factor for budding. I always do it in the autumn after the harvest. Very important in the production of apples are growth stimulators, for example, the preparation Regalis and proper foliar fertilization, protection against scab and various kinds of insects, pests and diseases.
