How to fertilize apple trees? Master the latest timing and methods

After apple trees are planted, they are cultivated for many years. In the first few years they are in the young tree stage, and afterward they will bear fruit for many more years, so fertilization is needed throughout their growth to ensure nutrition and maintain good tree vigor. There are many kinds of fertilizer to choose from, the fertilization timing should follow the growth process, and the fertilization method should also be chosen appropriately, in a way that favors absorption. So the specific details of these aspects will be introduced below.

1. Base fertilizer

Base fertilizer is mainly farmyard manure, applied all at once according to its share of the whole year's fertilizer amount, and it is generally applied after being composted together with phosphate fertilizer. Base fertilizer is applied after fruit harvest and before leaf fall. In this way it can be absorbed in time, restore the consumption from fruiting, and prepare for sprouting the following spring. Apply it in the root hair distribution zone, mainly under the tree, as ring-shaped fertilization, or as square trench fertilization, along the tree canopy.

2. Foliar spraying

For fertilization before flowering, during flowering, or during fruiting, the foliar spraying method can be chosen. It is generally done on cloudy days or in the afternoon on sunny days, and must not be done under strong light. Generally, urea can be sprayed at a concentration of 0.3%, potassium sulfate at a concentration of 0.2%, and superphosphate at a concentration of 0.5%. Some boron can also be supplemented by spraying borax, along with other elements. This is mainly a supplementary fertilization; root fertilization is still needed, combining chemical fertilizer and farmyard manure, with strip trench fertilization.

3. Root growth

Fertilization can be done at the peak of root growth. Generally, roots have three growth peaks: one from mid-March to mid-April, when mainly nitrogen fertilizer is applied to promote new shoot growth, and phosphate fertilizer should also be supplemented, since the earlier phosphate fertilizer is applied, the better it is utilized; one from the end of May to mid-June, when mainly potassium fertilizer is applied, as July is approaching and the fruit needs potassium fertilizer, and both coloring and sweetness depend on potassium fertilizer; and the next from mid-September to November. At this time, mainly composted farmyard manure is applied to promote root growth.

4. Fertilization methods

Generally, base fertilizer needs ring-shaped trench application, so it is absorbed and utilized from the roots. But for topdressing before flowering, during flowering, and during fruiting, strip trench fertilization is used, which is convenient, fast, and evenly absorbed. Water and fertilizer can also be combined, for example by laying pipes, dissolving fertilizer in water, and fertilizing through drip irrigation. It can be added freely. In this way, root hairs and soil structure are not damaged.

For apple tree fertilization, the timing follows the growth period, and the methods include root fertilization and extra-root topdressing, with root topdressing also having a variety of options. The above is a brief introduction to apple tree fertilization and fertilization methods.