Key Technical Points for Autumn and Winter Management of Pear Orchards
Autumn and winter is an important period when pear trees shed their leaves and enter dormancy. Strengthening the management of pear orchards in autumn and winter is beneficial to the growth, flowering and fruiting of pear trees the following year.
1. Rational fertilization: By the end of November, apply a deep autumn fertilizer to the pear orchard once, and the amount applied should account for more than 30% of the total annual fertilizer application, mainly organic fertilizers such as decomposed oil cake fertilizer, residue fertilizer, composted manure and human and livestock manure. The method is: at the drip line of the canopy of adult pear trees, dig 1-2 ring-shaped fertilization pits about 60 cm long and 25 cm deep and 25 cm wide, and apply 30-40 kg of decomposed human, livestock and poultry manure water fertilizer per tree, adding 1-1.5 kg of decomposed oil cake fertilizer (or 10-20 kg of decomposed residue fertilizer, composted manure, etc.), and mix in when applying. For young trees, apply half or 1/4 of the amount, and backfill soil to cover the pits after fertilization.
2. Intertillage and weeding: In combination with autumn fertilization, remove weeds in the pear orchard and bury them deep in the fertilization pits. Then, carry out deep plowing of the pear orchard, shallow cultivation under the canopy, deep plowing of 20-30 cm between rows, and trim the edges and clean the ditches of the plots, so that the soil is loose and overwintering insect eggs (cocoons) are eliminated.
3. Tidy up and prune: For young pear orchards planted for 1-2 years, on the basis of branch bending in the summer of the same year, bend, prop and hang the 2-4 branches that have been cultivated, so that they maintain an opening spread of 60-70 cm, in order to ease the tree vigor and form a dwarfed canopy; for adult fruiting trees, prune by thinning, heading back and renewal pruning, so that the canopy is ventilated and light-transmitting, with clear layers, achieving the goal of bearing fruit both inside and outside.
4. Disease and pest control: In winter after the pear trees shed their leaves, take comprehensive measures to control overwintering diseases and pests.
1. Clear away dead branches and fallen leaves near the pear orchard, prune diseased and insect-infested branches, scrape off the loose bark of the trunks, and burn or bury them deep in a centralized manner.
2. Before winter begins, use rice straw or miscellaneous grass to make 1-2 small grass bundles and place them at the branching points of the pear trees to lure pests to overwinter on the grass bundles. When spring begins, burn all the grass bundles in a centralized manner. This can eliminate a large number of overwintering diseases and pests.
3. Spray pesticide and whitewash the trunks. After the pear trees shed their leaves and before they sprout, the pear orchard should be generally sprayed 1-2 times with 2-3 degrees Baumé lime sulfur mixture, and the residual liquid after use should be used to whitewash the trunks. The following two formulas can also be used to prepare the whitewash: ① 4 kg of lime, 3 kg of lime sulfur mixture, 0.5 kg of diesel oil or kerosene, 50 kg of hot water. Preparation method: first put the lump lime into warm water and dissolve it into a slurry, then add the lime sulfur mixture and stir thoroughly; ② 5 kg of lime, 0.5 kg of salt, 100 g of 40% fuxiao arsenic wettable powder, 0.5 kg of diesel oil or machine oil, 50 kg of warm water at 60°C. Preparation method: first put the lump lime into warm water and dissolve it into lime milk slurry, then add salt, machine oil, pesticide, etc. and stir thoroughly.