How to prevent and control the alternate bearing phenomenon in fruit trees? Detailed explanation of the latest measures
When alternate bearing in fruit trees is mentioned, many fruit growers are familiar with it. It occurs in many orchards, especially in orchards at peak fruiting stage, and it happens frequently. After alternate bearing occurs, one year the trees bloom and bear much fruit, and the next year they bloom and bear little fruit, bringing huge economic losses to farmers. So how should alternate bearing in fruit trees be prevented? Let's take a look together.
1. Strengthen orchard management
The main cause of alternate bearing in fruit trees is an imbalance between nutrient accumulation and consumption, so fertilization should be scientific to provide sufficient support for the growth and development of fruit trees, keep their nutrient accumulation and consumption in balance, and reduce alternate bearing. Fertilization should focus on applying base fertilizer in autumn and foliar spraying. Before leaf fall in autumn, dig a trench on one side of the plant and apply organic fertilizer to improve soil structure, increase permeability, and prompt the plant to recover its tree vigor as soon as possible. When root absorption cannot meet growth needs, foliar spraying can be adopted to ensure the plant's nutritional requirements. This situation generally occurs during the flowering and fruiting period, when the plant consumes relatively large amounts of nutrients and the roots cannot fully satisfy that demand.
2. Scientific pruning
Pruning can be improved to coordinate the relationship between vegetative branches and fruiting branches, promote flower bud differentiation, increase the fruit-setting rate, and significantly increase branches and leaves for yield. However, when pruning, attention should be paid to branch renewal and the training of branch groups, and the proportion of vegetative branches, fruiting branches, and fruiting reserve branches should be arranged reasonably. Some old fruiting branches will keep declining in yield, so at this time they can be cut back to avoid nutrient consumption, and other new branches can be cultivated as fruiting branches. Repeating this cycle can prevent and reduce alternate bearing.
3. Fruit thinning and fruit retention
In production, to prevent and control alternate bearing, measures are often used to thin flowers and fruits in an on year and to protect flowers and fruits in an off year. Flower thinning is generally done at the initial flowering stage, and fruit thinning is generally done one month after the flowers fade. The timing of fruit thinning must be grasped well; thinning too early or too late will affect the plant's measures. For flower and fruit protection in an off year, every possible method should be used to increase the nutrients in the plant, so that the number of flower buds differentiated can be abundant. During production, attention should be paid to flower and fruit drop.
4. Strengthen tree protection
Pay timely attention to weather forecasts, watch for frost, hail, late spring cold, and other severe weather, and take preventive measures in time. In winter, carry out comprehensive orchard cleaning, burn or deeply bury diseased branches, diseased fruits, diseased leaves, and ground weeds in time to reduce pathogens, and through measures such as spraying and whitewashing tree trunks, prepare for cold resistance so the trees can overwinter safely. For pests and diseases, use measures such as chemical spraying and root irrigation to control them and reduce the incidence rate the following year.
The above is an introduction to prevention and control measures for alternate bearing in fruit trees. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.