How do you protect apple trees from the cold and help them overwinter? These practical measures are worth mastering
Apples are a fruit we are all familiar with, and China is the world's largest producer of apples. With the arrival of winter, temperatures keep dropping, and low temperatures have an enormous impact on apple trees, very easily causing cold damage and huge economic losses. So cold protection measures must be taken during production. Come along with the editor below and take a look at cold protection measures for apples over winter.
1. Watering with freezing water
Watering thoroughly once before the winter freeze can not only let the soil store sufficient water and raise ground temperature, but also satisfy the transpiration of the fruit trees and prevent freezing drought; in addition, it is also beneficial for flowering and fruiting the following year, which can be said to achieve three things at once. However, the timing of watering needs attention: watering too early, when temperatures are higher, means a large amount of evaporation from the fruit trees, which is not conducive to storing water and will reduce the trees' cold resistance; watering too late, when the soil is already frozen, makes it difficult for water to seep down, and the tree roots are prone to cold damage. The suitable watering time is in mid-November, when the nighttime temperature is below 0 degrees and the soil is frozen, while daytime temperatures are higher and it can thaw - this is the best time to water.
2. Applying overwintering fertilizer
In the process of decomposition, fertilizer can release a large amount of heat, raise low temperatures, allow the fruit tree roots to overwinter safely, and fertilizer can also provide nutrients to the fruit trees, increasing their cold resistance. So before overwintering in winter, overwintering fertilizer should be applied. Generally speaking, the amount of overwintering fertilizer applied is determined by the growth condition of each plant, and fertilizing is usually done together with plowing, which ensures that the fertility is fully absorbed by the soil and also increases the soil's permeability, allowing it to overwinter smoothly.
3. Timely harvesting
Some fruit growers, in order to increase the freshness of the fruit, do not harvest immediately after the fruit ripens and leave the fruit hanging on the tree for a period, which can also improve the quality of the fruit. However, harvesting too late is more unfavorable to the growth of the plant, especially for late-maturing varieties. Harvesting too late will prevent the tree from fully recovering, the leaf nutrients cannot flow back, nutrient accumulation is less, cold resistance is weaker, and the ability to overwinter is affected.
4. Whitewashing the trunk or binding it
After the fruit trees shed their leaves and enter dormancy, whitewash the part of the trunk below 1.5 m with paint or lime solution to reduce the temperature difference on the surface of the branches and reduce sunscald. In addition, young trees have poor cold resistance, and whitewashing alone cannot help them overwinter safely, so they need to be bound with rice straw or wrapped with white plastic film to prevent freezing damage.
The above is an introduction to cold protection measures for apple trees over winter. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please follow us.