What causes apples to be small?
It is apple harvest season, and many fruit growers have noticed that their apples are small and fail to grow larger, which has a huge impact on yield and seriously damages the economic interests of farmers. So what are the reasons why apples are small? Let's take a look.
1. Excessive fertilization
A normal apple generally weighs around 200 grams, but some fruit growers apply excessive fertilizer during the growing process, which very easily causes the plant to produce a relatively large number of flowers during the budding stage. If flower and fruit thinning and light exposure are not done in time afterward, it is very easy for the fruit tree's nutrients to be consumed excessively during the fruit expansion stage. The tree's absorption simply cannot keep up with the plant's consumption, and in the end this leads to flower and fruit drop and small fruit.
2. Impact of pests and diseases
During growth, fruit will inevitably suffer from pests and diseases. If apple growers do not pay attention to daily pruning and the orchard environment is closed and humid, then bacteria and pests will break out in large numbers. For example, red spider mites and little leaf disease can cause great harm to apple leaves, and in severe cases cause leaf drop, affecting the plant's normal nutrient supply. All of these can have a certain impact on the formation of small apples.
3. Fertilizer misuse
When fertilizing apples, whether the fertilization method is good or bad plays a very large role, and this fertilizer misuse refers to an imbalance of various nutrients. Orchard fertilization should emphasize balanced fertilization: it is necessary to supplement major elements, but attention must also be paid to the supply of minor and trace elements, so as to ensure yield and quality. If large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer are normally applied, it will cause the plant to grow excessively, and branch growth and fruit expansion will compete for nutrients, resulting in small fruit size and poor color. In addition, applying too much nitrogen fertilizer before harvest will also affect the plant's stored nutrients. Although it will not affect the yield of the current year, it will have a serious impact on the growth of the fruit trees the following year.
4. Climate impact
In some regions, apples are generally small because of climatic factors. During the apple ripening period, a continuous month of rainy weather prevents the leaves from carrying out photosynthesis, the tree's nutrients are completely consumed, and the tree body has very few nutrients left, which seriously affects cell formation after flowering the following year and causes apples to be generally smaller.
The above is an introduction to the reasons why apples are small. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please follow us.