Types and features of fertilizing pears
Pear nutritional deficiencies can trigger the development of diseases and affect the quality and quantity of the crop. It is advisable for every gardener to become familiar with the types and methods of fertilizing a fruit tree.
How to determine what is missing pear
The lack of an element in fruit trees appears externally: on foliage, shoots, fruits, on the quality of flowering and fruiting.
The main symptoms of a lack of elements:
- nitrogen - the color of the leaves pales significantly, with a severe deficiency the leaves turn yellow and fly around. The plant is stunted, especially seen on young specimens. Flowering is moving away, few fruit ovaries form, the fruits ripen smaller than usual, a lot of carrion;
- phosphorus - the annual growth of young branches is weak, the shoots are thin and sluggish, the foliage on them is deformed, it is often pressed (there is no exit angle) to the branches. On the lower old branches, the foliage acquires a red-brown hue or is covered with yellow-brown spots throughout the plate. In apple trees, leaves shine with a blue tint. Fruit ovaries crumble, not having time to ripen;
- potassium - even with sufficient watering, the top of the tree begins to dry out, the leaf plates are twisted with a boat, the edges turn yellow, gradually turn black and fly around. The fruits of the pear, this applies to the apple tree, are pale, long and unevenly ripen.
Did you know? The ancient Greek sailors with the help of pear fruits fought with seasickness. They absorbed pieces of fruit, and unpleasant symptoms of pitching passed.
The main types of fertilizing for pears
Fruit trees can be fed both purchased chemical complexes and organics.
Chemical fertilizers
The advantage of chemical elements is in a competent balance of substances. Often the complexes, in addition to the main element, contain a number of substances no less important for the growth and development of the pear. The manufacturer in the instructions for the composition gives instructions on the dosage, which makes fertilizing the plant safe.
Nitrogen
A tree needs an element to grow greenery, the normal process of photosynthesis. This is the basis for ensuring vegetation and assimilation of the necessary nutrition and moisture from the soil. A sufficient amount of nitrogen also depends on how well the tree tolerates winter.
Among the popular nitrogen compounds:
- ammonium nitrate;
- calcium nitrate;
- sodium nitrate;
- urea.
Phosphorus
The substance is responsible for the ripening of the fruits, the development of the root system, the amount of yield. With a sufficient amount, the fruits are saturated with juice, the taste characteristic of the variety and the content of acids and sugars.
Phosphorus Feeding:
- superphosphate;
- double superphosphate;
- red phosphorus;
- phosphorite flour.
Potassium
Essential for plants to increase resistance to diseases and pests. Adequate autumn application positively affects the winter hardiness of the tree, the duration of storage of apples and pears. Potassium is necessary for the plant during flowering to form a sufficient number of fruit ovaries.
Feeding with potassium:
- potassium chloride;
- potassium sulfate.
In addition to monofertilizers, there are complex formulations; they contain a mark on the NPK packaging.
For example:
- ammophos;
- diammophos;
- potassium metaphosphate;
- nitroammophosk.
Read also how to get rid of rotting pears on a tree.
Organic fertilizer
The main advantage of organic chemistry is its naturalness. In addition, many summer residents, in addition to the garden, are engaged in breeding poultry. Often livestock farms are located near summer cottages, so feeding of this kind is always available.
Manure and humus
Manure is an organic fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, as well as microorganisms that improve the structure and composition of the soil.
To provide organic matter, the soil is fed rotten manure or, as it is called, humus. They use 3-year-old fertilizer, during which time the substance is even more enriched with bacteria useful for the soil and plants.
Important! Fresh manure for the root system of the pear is too aggressive, it can not be applied to the soil.
Bird droppings
Bird droppings also cannot be brought in fresh, the substance contains 4 times more nitrogen and other substances than manure. Given such an aggressive concentration, it is also left to rot for 3 years, and when added it is diluted with water.
Wood ash
Ash of plant origin contains all the minerals necessary for fruit trees, and in a form convenient for assimilation. The percentage of useful elements from deciduous wood is higher.
Ash not only makes up for the lack of potassium in the soil, it can be used as a “deoxidizer”, since it forms carbonates and oxides during combustion. These substances reduce the acidity of the soil.
When and how to properly feed pears
Pears respond equally well to root and foliar top dressing. It is important to alternate and prepare them correctly.
In the spring
Nitrogen is necessary for the plant at the beginning of the growing season, in the second half of the season it is introduced in scanty amounts in the complex.
Did you know? Musical instruments are still made from durable pear wood because it does not deform. Instruments retain their sound for centuries.
There are only three spring fertilizers:
- the first - as soon as the kidneys wake up, a solution of 15 g of ammonium nitrate per 5 l of water is bred on one tree. The solution is poured into a groove dug in the trunk circle;
- the second - during flowering, apply watering with a urea solution of 100 g / 10 l of water;
- the third is carried out as soon as the inflorescences fall off. Nitroammofosku bred with water in a proportion of 50 g / 10 l of water, also in the trunk circle. Top dressing should be carried out when the inflorescences have already fallen.
Young trees under 2 years old during flowering are fed on the leaf, using infusion of wood ash. 1.5 cups of ash are taken per 10 liters of water, thoroughly stirred, insisted for several hours.
Video: feeding pears in spring
Summer
Summer top dressing is carried out until the harvest, ending about 3 weeks before harvesting. At the end of June, trees are sprayed on a leaf with this solution: 5 g of potassium sulfate / 1 l of water.
In July, they also fertilize on a sheet with a solution of magnesium sulfate 100 g / 5 l of water. This should be done in dry weather on a calm day. In August, in order for the fruits to be poured with juice and not fall off, they spray them with phosphates - 30 g of superphosphate / 5 l of water.
Video: feeding pears in August
Fall
In order for the pear to winter well, and also restore the supply of nutrients, after fruiting it is fertilized according to the leaf composition - 25 g of potassium sulfate, 50 g of superphosphate per 10 l of water. When digging, wood ash 200 g per 1 m² is introduced into the soil during the winter.
Important! When working with chemical fertilizers, it is necessary to protect the skin, the mucous membrane of the eye from accidental ingestion of the solution.
Tips from experienced gardeners for beginners
One of the factors that are important when growing a pear tree is the type of soil. The soil for the tree is desirable nutritious, with a neutral reaction. On poor soils, fertile soil with fertilizers is placed in the planting pits. Acidic soils are calcined with fluff or dolomite flour.
Other helpful suggestions:
- When planting, do not put fresh chicken manure or manure in the hole, only humus or mineral complexes. But in this case, in order not to burn the roots, they are sprinkled with clean soil, and then mixed with fertilizers.
- With the help of wood ash, you can fight pests on the site. Slugs and snails do not tolerate the substance, because when it comes into contact with their bodies, it strongly absorbs moisture, dehydrating arthropods.
- As for humus, it is prepared not only from animal and bird manure, but also from plant debris. This type of humus is called compost. Fertilizers from plants are generally the fastest and most quickly absorbed. In addition to nitrogen, fermented green fertilizer for pears and apple trees is useful for a whole group of trace elements.
- Today, there are many biological products on sale that are used in gardens and orchards. The compounds are absolutely safe for plants and humans, because they are composed of natural microorganisms. These are the so-called EM drugs.
- A pear, which has not yet begun to bear fruit, is fed only in the spring - with nitrogen compounds and in the autumn - potassium-phosphorus.
- It will help preserve the ovary of flowers by spraying with boric acid 20 g / 10 l of water before the buds open.