Xtremehorticulture

What To Do to Fruit Trees Now

Q. What should we be doing to our fruit trees right now? A. You should be finishing your winter pruning now. Bloom on some fruit trees started early this year and if you haven’t finished it you can still go ahead while it is in bloom. Be careful of the bees.             Hold off on pruning grapes until later in February when the chance of freezing temperatures has passed.             Fertilize your fruit trees now if you haven’t. Use a balanced fruit tree fertilizer high in phosphorus. If you miss this application you can use three or four liquid applications to the leaves (spray) a week apart in the coming weeks.             If you suspect you will have yellowing due to an iron deficiency, apply the iron chelate EDDHA to the base of the tree with your irrigation water. Trees susceptible to iron problems include peach, nectarine, plums, apricots, almonds, apples and pears.             Before or immediately after bloom, but not during bloom, apply dormant oil to limbs and trunk making sure you spray the undersides of the leaves, not just the tops.             Irrigations should be once a week as soon as you see new growth. Newly planted trees can receive 5 to 10 gallons. Trees that are up to ten years old should receive 20 to 30 gallons each time you irrigate. Irrigations should be applied to at least half of the area under the canopy.             Prepare for thinning fruit trees of excess fruit in about a month. Summer pruning will occur in about April. Watch for my postings on future activities and when to do them.

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July Todo’s: Irrigation of fruit trees

Basin irrigation of fruit trees Irrigate. If your fruit trees are being irrigated by drip or bubbler with a basin around the tree it will be critical to make sure they are getting watered regularly. We are usually irrigating three times a week when temperatures break 110°F or if it has been unusually windy.           This just doesn’t mean you’re irrigation clock is set correctly but that you also make sure that drip emitters or bubblers are not plugged. Most emitters and bubblers can be cleaned. Turn on your irrigation system and walk your irrigation lines looking for diminished flow rates or possible plugging. The inside of this bubbler is plugged with irrigation glue. Someone did not flush out the irrigation line after making an irrigation repair.           Under our desert environment, the soil surrounding your fruit trees irrigated by a basin or drip will be totally dry. These dry soils surrounding your plants “pull” water away from your trees and in competition with them. But surface mulches help reduce this problem.           If your fruit trees miss an irrigation, expect to see leaf yellowing and leaf drop the week or two after the water shortage. This can be very dangerous to fruit trees. Leaf drop opens the canopy for intense sunlight and sunburn on the fruit and limbs. If limbs are sunburned this makes them very prone for borer attacks.           This is the worst time of the year to miss an irrigation or cut back on your watering.

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