In order for fruit trees in garden plots not only to grow, but also to bear tasty fruits rich in vitamins and microelements, they need to be grown correctly. Plum trees require special care, so experienced gardeners strictly adhere to the basic rules for planting and caring for a tree.
In order for the tree to bear a good harvest, residents of the middle zone should choose plums with a short or medium period of ripeness. Trees that are resistant to frost, drought and disease are highly valued. Many gardeners choose the following varieties:
These plums are also called early-fruiting or fruitful. The described varieties tolerate long-distance transportation well, so they are planted in different parts of the world.
Having decided on the variety, gardeners must decide how to plant the plum. Planting plums in the ground is done in three ways: from the pit, cuttings and root shoots.
The process of growing plums from pits is of greatest interest. But this method of planting requires the most labor and time.
When planning to grow a plum from a seed, pay attention to the following nuances:
If you decide to plant a plum from a seed, you need to follow simple recommendations:
Before boarding begins preparatory activities: You should harden the seeds by placing them in the refrigerator for a day. It is necessary to set the temperature to + 2 degrees. Then the bones are placed in a damp cloth and left there for six months. The fabric with seeds must be moistened periodically. When the seeds swell and crack, you need to plant them in the ground. The soil must be well moistened. After planting, the plum tree needs fertilizing and good watering.
When choosing a plum seedling, you should definitely pay attention to the following factors:
A tree with bare roots should be examined carefully, its condition and size of roots assessed, if appearance If the seedling does not meet the above criteria, it is better to refuse to plant it.
Seedlings with a closed root system are already rooted in the ground, so they have a lump of soil that does not allow assessing the size and condition of the root. In this case, it is difficult to make the right choice, since the actual state of the sprout can only be assessed by its appearance.
Plums must be planted within strictly defined periods: before the buds swell in the spring or at the end of September.
Plum is a capricious tree, so the planting site should be treated with special attention. It grows on any summer cottage, but it cannot be guaranteed that the plant will definitely bear fruit. The most favorable places for planting plums are sunny places on hills, well protected from the winds. It is preferable to plant in an area near the fence from its northern part; in such conditions, the seedling will be protected from cold gusts of wind and will have access to the sun from the southern side.
It is necessary to plant the plum in fertile soil, preferably with a sandy or loamy composition; in addition, the tree gives a good harvest in alkaline soil. The planting hole should be about half a meter deep and no more than 1 meter wide. Transplantation is carried out in moist soil, but care must be taken to ensure that there is no stagnation of water in this place.
The distance between seedlings depends on the plum variety. For trees that spread widely, it is necessary to provide a free space of about 3 meters. If the variety has a small crown, then the distance should be less.
The plum tree does not need inorganic fertilizers; the ideal fertilizer for it would be humus diluted in water in a ratio of 1:2. After planting, the fruit tree needs abundant watering with heated water. Plum is a plant that loves warmth and light, so when choosing a place to plant, you need to pay special attention to these factors.
The plum tree is moisture-loving, so drying out has a very detrimental effect on it. In hot weather, watering should be done once a week: 6 buckets of water per mature tree and 4 buckets for young. A signal of a lack of moisture will be cracks covering the fruit. But it must be remembered that excessive watering is harmful to plums. If there is excess moisture, the leaves of the tree turn yellow and the top dies.
IN winter period You need to make sure that the snow around the seedling is no higher than 60 cm, and excess cover must be removed.
Since plum planting can be done in spring and autumn, gardeners need to determine the most favorable period for themselves.
Each season has its pros and cons to consider.
Spring planting is preferable. For planting, you should choose strong annual seedlings.
In spring, plums should be planted in warm soil, immediately after the buds swell. This is usually done in early April. If this time is missed, you can plant a little later; in the spring it will not be such a serious mistake as in the fall.
Planting holes are prepared in the fall; they are dug with a diameter and width of 60 cm. If the tree is planted in a cultivated area, it needs to be dug with 1–2 shovels within a radius of 1.5 meters near the planting site.
The place for the tree is prepared in advance - it should be sunny and high, humus and soil are poured into the hole in a 1:1 ratio, a wooden stake or straight stick is placed in the center of the hole, and then the seedling is tied to this support so that the rope does not put pressure on the bark . Upon disembarkation top part the root adjacent to the trunk is left 5 cm above the ground level; after a while the soil will settle and the roots will be at the same level with it. This is done so that the trunk does not begin to rot.
Plum (Prunus) belongs to the genus of tree-like plants and is a member of the rose family. This genus includes approximately 250 species that are naturally found in the Northern Hemisphere. Plum is a natural hybrid of sloe and cherry plum. This plant was already grown in Ancient Egypt, in the 5th–6th century BC. Moreover, long before our era, the Syrians learned to make prunes from plum fruits, and they traded them with other countries. There is a legend that it was the Roman commander Pompey who brought the plum from Damascus to Europe. Damask and walnut plums were the best varieties in Rome. During the Crusades, other excellent varieties of this crop were brought to the lands of Europe, for example, Renclaude, which received its name in honor of Claude, who was the daughter of Louis XII. Below we will talk in detail about such a species as the domestic plum, whose homeland is the Caucasus.
The plum tree is a tree that reaches a height of about 15 meters. The crown shape is ovoid. The lifespan of this crop is approximately 25 years, and it actively bears fruit for 10 to 15 years. The beginning of fruiting in early-fruiting varieties is observed 2-3 years after planting, while in late-fruiting varieties - only 6-7 years. This tree has a tap root system. Moreover, most of the roots are located at a depth of 0.2 to 0.4 m. Simple alternate leaf blades have short petioles and an elliptical or obovate shape. The edge of the leaves can be crenate or serrated; there is pubescence on the underside of the plate. The length of the leaf plates is 4–10 centimeters, and their width is 2–5 centimeters. From a flower bud, 1 to 3 white flowers appear, which reach 15–20 mm in diameter. The fruit is a drupe, inside of which there is a flattened stone with points on both sides. It can be colored yellow, red, purple, greenish or blue-black, with a bluish coating on the surface. The hearths can be elongated or rounded. This genus also includes plants such as cherry, black cherry, bird cherry, almond, apricot and peach.
If the climate in your region is quite cool, then planting plums in open ground should be done in the spring, or more precisely, in April before the buds open. If the climate is mild and warm, then this procedure can be carried out in the autumn in mid-September, in which case the seedling will be able to take root well before the onset of frost. However, if you got a plum seedling in October or November, then planting should be postponed until next spring. In this case, the seedling must be buried in the garden plot, and then covered with spruce branches, placing the needles upward, which will not allow mice to get to the planting material. After snow falls, it should be spread in a thick layer over the shelter. In the spring, during the period of bud opening, the seedlings need to be pulled out and planted in holes, the preparation of which should be started in the fall.
If the winter in your region is mild and relatively warm, then you can plant plums in the autumn, but you need to prepare the site for this in advance. Despite the fact that a self-fertile plum variety will be used for planting, experts advise planting a couple of bushes of a different variety nearby, in which case their consistently high fruiting will be guaranteed.
The preparation of the planting hole should be started half a month before the landing day. The soil on the site can be anything but acidic. But the depth groundwater should be more than 1.5 m. The site should be located in the southwestern, southern or western part of the garden. It should be well lit and protected from cold winds and drafts. The area should be dug to the depth of a spade bayonet. If the soil is acidic, then one of the deoxidizing agents is added to it for digging, for example, wood ash or dolomite flour (1 square meter area from 0.6 to 0.8 kg). After this, it is necessary to make a pit, the diameter of which should be approximately 0.7 m, and the depth should be at least 0.6 m. When digging a hole, the upper nutrient layer of soil must be folded back separately from the lower one. A long stake should be installed in the center of the bottom of the pit so that it rises above the surface of the site by at least 50 cm. Nutrient soil should be combined with peat or humus in a 1:1 ratio. The resulting earth mixture should be poured onto the bottom of the pit in a mound.
It is also very important to choose the right seedling. The root system of a good seedling should be fresh and not dry. A little weathered root system It is necessary to place it in a container with water several hours before planting. The bark must be intact and not damaged. Inspect the stem carefully; it should be in very good condition. There should be no bifurcations in the trunk of the seedling.
The sequence of planting plums in autumn is as follows: an annual seedling should be placed on a mound that was previously poured around the peg, then when the roots are very carefully straightened, the pit is filled with nutritious soil, which is previously combined with organic matter. You need to fill the hole gradually, trying to ensure that there are no voids left in the soil. The root collar of a planted plant should rise 30–40 mm above the surface of the area. A planted plum needs watering; for this, 20–30 liters of water are poured under the bush. After the liquid is completely absorbed and the soil settles, the root collar of the plant should be flush with the soil surface. Then the surface of the tree trunk circle must be covered with a layer of mulch (peat).
There are only slight differences in planting plums in spring and autumn. So, in spring, the nutritious soil mixture must be mixed with both organic and mineral fertilizers. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers are also added, which cannot be used in the fall. Nutrient soil must be combined with organic matter (compost or humus) in a 1:1 ratio, then 40 to 60 grams of potassium salt, 200 to 300 grams of superphosphate and 300 to 400 grams of wood ash are poured into it and everything is mixed thoroughly. The resulting soil mixture will need to be filled with the root system of the seedling during planting. A distance of at least 3–4 m should be maintained between seedlings. Experts recommend planting two plums close to each other, and you need to choose varieties that bloom at the same time. Cherry plum growing not far from a plum tree can become its pollinator. Do not forget that you need to plant the plum before the sap flow begins.
Caring for a plum tree is not at all difficult, but only if you know certain rules and tricks, which will be discussed below.
To significantly facilitate pest control, it is necessary in early spring attract as many birds as possible to your garden plot. To do this, birdhouses are hung in the garden. The plum tree will need to be pruned in mid-March. In April, the soil should be dug up in the tree trunk circles and between the rows, and nitrogen fertilizers should be added to it. For 1 adult tree that has already begun to bear fruit, take from 300 to 400 grams of urea or calcium nitrate, while for a young plant that is more than one year old, 100–200 grams will be enough. You need to dig up the soil carefully, as you can injure the roots of the plant. Therefore, you can dig up soil around the trunk to a depth of no more than 5–10 centimeters. In spring, this crop should be treated for preventive purposes in order to destroy pests and pathogenic microorganisms that have settled for the winter in the top layer of soil and in the bark of the plant. If the air temperature drops to 1 degree, then every night it will be necessary to burn smoke piles, and it will be possible to stop smoking only a couple of hours after the sun rises. If there is no rain in spring, then the plum tree will need to be watered, and the water consumption per plant per watering ranges from 30 to 60 liters. In the last days of May, the plum tree should be fertilized with organic fertilizers, then the surface of the tree trunk circle should be covered with a layer of mulch (peat or sawdust). The surface of the tree trunk circle should always be clean, so you need to pull out weeds and root growth in a timely manner.
IN summer time When the plum blossoms, it needs to be fed in exactly the same way as in the spring, using the same fertilizers in the same ratios. If there is a drought, the plant will need watering. The beginning of fruiting, as a rule, occurs in the last weeks of summer; therefore, you need to be ready to collect and process ripe fruits on time.
Fruit harvesting continues in September. When the entire harvest is harvested, the plant will need moisture-recharging winter watering. If the soil on the site is under black fallow, then you must first rake and destroy all the fallen leaves, and then dig up the soil between the rows and in the tree trunk circles. What fertilizers do experts recommend using to feed plum trees in the autumn? Mineral fertilizers are added to each trunk circle, as well as organic matter (described in more detail below). All mosses, lichens and dead bark must be removed from the surface of the base of skeletal branches and the trunk. The wounds found are cleaned, then treated with a solution of iron or copper sulfate, and after all they are coated with garden pitch. The base of the branches and trunks must be whitened with lime, to which copper sulfate is added. The plum trees then need to be prepared for winter.
For the first time in a season, for the purpose of prevention, the plant is sprayed in the spring before sap flow begins; as a rule, this time occurs in the last days of March or the first days of April. Then the plant is sprayed with a urea solution (0.7 kg of substance per 1 bucket of water). This will eliminate all pests and pathogenic microorganisms that have overwintered in the plant bark or in the tree trunk, while the urea solution will become a source of nitrogen for the plant. However, this treatment must be carried out before the buds open; if you miss the moment, then the urea must be replaced with Agravertin, Iskra-bio, Fitoverm, Akarin or another product with a similar effect. To make the plum more resistant to diseases and adverse weather conditions, after the first treatment you need to spray it with a solution of Zircon or Ecoberin. Repeated preventive spraying is carried out in October, the plum is treated before starting to prepare it for winter.
When watering a plum tree, make sure that the soil is wet to a depth of about 0.4 m. The number of waterings throughout the growing season is affected by the amount of precipitation. On average, the plant is watered 3–5 times per season, while about 100 liters of water are poured under 1 fruit-bearing tree per 1 watering, and 40–60 liters are poured under a young plant. In the autumn, it is necessary to carry out moisture-recharging watering of the plum, in addition to the fact that as a result of this the soil will be saturated with liquid, which will be enough for the plant to last throughout the winter, and the winter hardiness of the tree will also noticeably increase.
Fertilizers are applied to the soil around the tree trunk, while simultaneously loosening it. Organic matter is added to the soil once every 3 or 4 years (per 1 square meter from 10 to 12 kilograms). Mineral fertilizers are applied once every 2 or 3 years, but it should be taken into account that the plant needs nitrogen only in the spring, and potassium and phosphorus in the fall. In the first and fourth years after planting plums in open ground, 40 to 50 grams of potassium salt, 120 to 180 grams of superphosphate and 60 to 90 grams of ammonium nitrate are added to the soil. For years 5–8, you need to take 2 times more fertilizer for feeding.
An adult plum tree does not need to be covered for the winter. However, the surface of the tree trunk circle must be covered with a layer of mulch (humus or peat). While the plant is young, it needs shelter for the winter; for this it should be wrapped in burlap or tied with spruce branches. It is not recommended to use artificial covering material, as the plant may slide under it.
Formative pruning is recommended to be carried out in the spring before sap flow begins. The most popular crown form is called sparse-tiered, and the height of the trunk should be at least 0.4 m. They begin formative pruning 1 year after planting, the fact is that in the first years of life this crop is characterized by the most active growth. Crown formation lasts 5 years.
Formative pruning should begin in the second year after planting the plum tree. In spring, a lower tier should be formed on it, which consists of 5–7 skeletal branches, equally spaced from each other, and they should also be directed in different directions with an angle of departure from the trunk equal to 45 degrees. This tier must be formed at a standard height of 0.45 to 0.5 m (must be measured from the surface of the area). The branches growing below this tier must all be cut out. Branches located above the trunk and growing at an angle of less than 40 degrees also need to be removed, because during the fruiting period they easily break off. The skeletal branches need to be shortened by 1/3 of the length, and the remaining ones must be cut into a ring, and no stumps should remain. The conductor must be shortened so that the one-year-old plum reaches a height of 150 to 180 cm.
In the third year of growth, the plant’s conductor should be cut so that it is 0.3–0.4 m above the upper branch. In this case, the conductor will remain straight during growth. Trim by ¼ or 1/3 of the length those growths, extensions of branches that have stretched more than 0.6 m. Side shoots should be shortened to 15 centimeters per bud oriented downwards. At a distance of half a meter from the trunk, you need to start forming skeletal branches of the second order. It should be taken into account that the distance between the skeletal branches of the second order located on the skeletal branch of the first order must be at least 0.3 m.
In the fourth year of growth, after the next shortening of the conductor, all skeletal branches should be 6 buds shorter than it. The conductor should be trimmed regularly until its height is 250 cm, then only new growth will need to be cut off each year. Particular attention should be paid to the formation of the top; to do this, regularly remove those shoots that grow incorrectly. The shape of the crown should be pyramidal; therefore, when the tree begins to bear fruit, its conductor must be cut to the level of the upper lateral skeletal branch. Shortening last year's growth helps stimulate the growth of new growth next season.
After 4 years, the main formation of the crown will be completed; from this time, pruning will be necessary to stimulate the growth of new fruiting branches, which produce the bulk of the fruit. Fruit growth is observed on young fruit wood, which is 2–3 years old. Branches that are 4 years old and that bore fruit last season must be removed. If old branches are pruned regularly, the plum tree will not need rejuvenating pruning at all.
You only need to trim the plant with a very sharp tool, and the cut areas should be coated with garden varnish.
Experts recommend pruning a plum tree in the spring and it is best to do this in the last days of March or the first days of April. At this time, all injured and frostbitten are circumcised. winter time branches, and also shape the crown. When forming tiers, you will need to bend the branches. To do this, tie the skeletal branch with twine, after which it is pulled down from the trunk at an angle of 50–60 degrees, and it must be done so that during bending the branch does not take an arched shape. Then, at the base of the trunk, the lower end of the twine is secured. Rubber must be placed on the trunk or branch of the tree to secure the twine; this will help avoid injury to the plant bark. An event such as bending branches is carried out so that the plum begins to bear fruit 2 or 3 years earlier. If bending of the branches is carried out not in April, but later, the result of this procedure will be noticeable only in the next season.
While the plant is young, it is characterized by extremely intensive growth, as well as a tendency to thicken the crown. Therefore, crown formation can be done throughout the growing season, when necessary. In summer, experts recommend pruning plum trees in the last days of June. In the youngest plants, side shoots are shortened by 20 centimeters, and premature shoots by 15 centimeters. In summer, the central conductor is not trimmed. Also in June, those branches that have suffered from frost in the winter are clearly visible, so they should be pruned to healthy tissue. You should also cut out all shoots that contribute to thickening of the crown.
When the leaf fall ends, you should make sanitary pruning tree, this time falls on the second half of September. To do this, you should cut out all dried, injured and diseased branches, and if necessary, you need to shorten the central conductor. After this, they cut out stems that are characterized by rapid growth, as well as competing shoots that contribute to thickening of the crown. All cut branches and stems must be destroyed. However, it should be taken into account that such pruning in autumn can only be done in those regions where winters are quite mild and warm. Otherwise, this procedure should be carried out in the spring.
Plums can be propagated by seeds, but it is easier and faster to do this by vegetative methods, such as grafting, cuttings (root or green cuttings) and shoots. All of the listed methods of reproduction will be described in more detail below.
The plum tree produces a fairly large number of root shoots during the season, so propagation by them is very simple. From such growth you can try to get a new plum tree, and you do not lose anything, because the root suckers still need to be removed regularly, while trying to keep the tree trunk circle always clean. It will be necessary to find a well-developed root shoot located at a sufficiently large distance from the tree itself. Its root should be dug up and cut off from the parent plant, at a distance of 20 centimeters from the stem. Then the shoot needs to be removed from the ground, and the cut areas should be coated with garden varnish. After that, he is planted on a new permanent place. In the case where the plum tree does not have well-developed shoots, the relatively thin and small root shoot can be separated, but it will need to be grown in a school for a year.
As a rule, seedlings grown from seeds are used as rootstocks for varietal grafting. The seeds must be stratified before planting. To do this, they need to be wrapped in cloth or gauze and placed on the refrigerator shelf, where they should stay from the middle autumn period until the first days of March. Then in March the seeds are planted in individual pots. The emerging seedlings are provided with systematic watering and fertilizing. In autumn, the grown plants need to be planted for growing in a nursery or in a greenhouse. After 12 months, the seedlings can be transplanted to a permanent place and used for grafting varietal plums.
Propagation of plums by green cuttings is becoming more and more popular among gardeners every year. The fact is that this method is very simple, and the survival rate of such cuttings is extremely high. But it should be taken into account that only those cuttings that were cut from trees prone to forming a large number of root suckers will take root well. The preparation of cuttings should be done in June, it is at this time that intensive growth of shoots is observed, and for this you should choose a cloudy day. Young trees are chosen for cutting cuttings. Their length should be 0.3–0.4 m. To root, the cuttings must be placed in a container with water, first you need to trim their lower part using a very sharp tool, and also tear off all the lower leaf plates, leaving only ½ part petiole. Immediately above the third leaf plate, you need to make the top cut of the cutting. Next, the cuttings must be tied in a bunch, and then their lower ends are immersed 15 mm in a container with a Heteroauxin solution, so they should stand overnight. In order for the cuttings to take root, they will need greenhouse conditions, so it is necessary to make a mini-greenhouse for them. The container should be filled with a substrate, which includes sand and peat (1:1), and covered with a centimeter layer of sand on top. The soil mixture needs to be watered and compacted a little. The cuttings must be buried at an angle of 45 degrees to the petiole of the removed leaf plate. A distance of 5–7 centimeters should be maintained between cuttings, while the row spacing should be about 5 centimeters. The mini-greenhouse must be covered with a dome on top, which must be transparent. It is moved to a well-lit place and protected from direct sunlight. Watering the cuttings is carried out using a divider. 4 weeks after planting, the plant needs to be fed with a weak solution of slurry or a solution of nitrogen-containing fertilizer (30 grams per 1 bucket of water). After the cuttings have rooted, the dome should be removed. In order for the cuttings to be preserved until the onset of spring, they should be dug up in the last days of September. Next, their roots need to be covered with moistened moss and wrapped in film. They need to be stored in a shed, but this can also be done in a trench in the garden, with the cuttings covered on top with moss, sawdust or fallen leaves. In spring, the cuttings need to be planted in open soil, where they will grow for 2 years. Then it will be possible to transplant them to a permanent place.
Root cuttings are cut in autumn or spring. To do this, select a root shoot, which is located at a distance of at least 100 cm from the parent plant. First, you need to remove the shoot from the soil along with the root system, only then you can start cutting cuttings, the length of which should be about 15 centimeters, and the diameter should be approximately 15 millimeters. If the harvesting was carried out in the autumn, then the resulting cuttings must be placed in a box, sprinkled with sand, and stored until spring in a place where the air temperature is from 0 to 2 degrees. Such cuttings are planted in the first days of May, using the same scheme as when planting green cuttings. They are planted at an angle, keeping a distance of 10 centimeters, and covered on top with a cap, which should be transparent. Next, you need to grow root cuttings in exactly the same way as green ones, but all necessary procedures must be carried out at the same time.
To propagate a plum by grafting, you will need a scion and rootstock. As a rootstock, you can take a seedling grown from a seed, and also the root scion of an adult plum tree, previously removed from the ground and transplanted to a new place, is suitable for this role. Experienced gardeners recommend taking root shoots from the most frost-resistant plum varieties, for example: Moskovskaya, Ugorka, Skorospelka red, Renklod collective farm and Eurasia 21. You can also use damson as a rootstock, felt cherry, cherry plum or thorn.
There are several methods of vaccination:
The rootstock needs very good watering, as a result there will be an increase in sap flow, and it will become very easy to separate the bark from the wood. It is necessary to remove all dust and dirt from the stem with a moistened sponge or rag, then from the scion you need to tear off all the leaf plates, of which only petioles 5 mm long should remain. On the rootstock, you need to step 40 mm upward from the root collar, then using a budding knife, make a T-shaped incision on the bark. The cut bark must be carefully folded back. From a varietal scion it is necessary to cut off a bud with a strip of bark three centimeters long and half a centimeter wide. This bark must be placed in a T-shaped cut wood to wood. Then firmly press the bark and wrap the grafting site with tape, budding film or a strip of polyethylene, while the bud should remain open.
In dry weather, the flexibility of the bark is significantly reduced, so at this time it is better to use butt budding. On the rootstock, an incision should be made into the bark, reaching 7 centimeters in length, so that a thin layer of wood is captured. At the scion, you need to make an oblique lower cut equal to 7 centimeters in length, while the ledge must be made immediately under the bud. Insert this cut under the bark of the rootstock, wood to wood, then wrap the grafting site with plastic or budding film, leaving the scion bud uncovered. After 20 days, the film must be removed, and at the beginning of spring, the top of the rootstock must be cut off or cut down so that a thorn up to 15 centimeters in length remains above the bud. For budding, you can use a pair of buds, with one of them placed at a height of 40 mm above the ground surface, and the other 7 centimeters above the first.
In spring and summer, this crop can be grafted by cuttings. It is necessary to make an oblique cut on the rootstock, reaching 25 mm in length and 15 mm in width, and in this case it is necessary to grab the wood. On a recently harvested varietal cutting, it is necessary to make an oblique cut 25 mm long. It must be installed in a cut on the rootstock with a cut towards the outgoing part of the cleft. The grafting site must be wrapped with budding film. As soon as you notice that the cutting has taken root well, the film can be removed.
The stem of the rootstock must be cut down, and a three-centimeter deep split must be made in the center of the cut. Make a couple of lower cuts on the varietal cuttings so that a wedge is formed. This wedge is installed in the split, and the grafting site is wrapped with polyethylene and film.
During intense sap flow, the bark lags behind the wood best. The stem of the rootstock needs to be cut down, and 2 or 3 cuts are made to the bark from the place of the cut, moving from top to bottom. Bend back the bark and place a varietal cutting into each cut, cut obliquely and having 3 buds, with the cut facing the wood of the rootstock. Then the grafting site is secured with tape, film or tape.
If you want to graft several cuttings on one rootstock at once, then you will need to choose the “bark” or “split” method. In this case, the thickness of the rootstock will affect how many cuttings you can graft. The film should be removed after 4 weeks.
There are many different diseases that plums can suffer from. There are diseases that specifically affect the plum tree, and there are others that affect all stone fruits. A plum grown in a garden plot can develop clasterosporia or perforated spot, moniliosis or gray mold, gommosis or gum disease, rust, fruit rot, coccomycosis, sooty fungus, root canker, marsupial disease and milky sheen.
Clusterosporiasis is a fungal disease. It affects branches and leaf blades, and in flowering plants it also affects buds and flowers. The first symptoms of the disease are the formation of brown spots on the surface of the leaf blades, which have a darker border. Over time, they first become ulcers and then holes. The fruits are affected all the way to the seed, causing them to become ugly. This disease develops most intensively in damp weather. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to systematically thin out the crown so that it does not thicken. When all the leaves fall off in the autumn, you need to rake and destroy them, after which you should start digging up the area. Infected parts of the tree should be cut out and burned as quickly as possible. When the plant fades, after 15–20 days it needs to be sprayed with a solution of copper oxychloride (30 to 40 grams per bucket of water) or a solution of Bordeaux mixture (1%).
A fungal disease such as moniliosis can affect the ovaries, fruits, flowers, foliage and branches of a plant. The color of the fruits changes to brown, they become soft, and gray cushions appear on their surface, inside of which there are fungal spores. Activation of moniliosis is observed in the spring, and damp weather accelerates its development. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to cut out dead branches, as well as collect and burn fruits affected by the disease. Before the plum blossoms, it must be sprayed with copper or iron sulfate, Nitrafen or Bordeaux mixture (1%). After the tree has flowered, it must be immediately sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or a fungicide solution, for example: Cuprosan, copper oxychloride, Phthalan, Captan, etc.
Gum discharge (comosis) is observed on all stone fruit crops. In the affected specimen, light yellow or colorless drying resin flows from wounds on the bark. Branches that bleed gum dry out and die. The occurrence of this disease is facilitated by damage to wood and bark, sunburn, and large amounts of nitrogen and liquid in the soil. In the cold season, clot poses the greatest danger to plum trees, and it often affects those specimens that have been weakened harmful insects or very strong pruning. In the gum-impregnated bark, pathogenic microorganisms can begin to actively develop, which contribute to the development of cancer of the branches and trunk. If the gum leak is very strong, this leads to drying out and death of the plum tree. For preventive purposes, try to completely eliminate the possibility of mechanical damage to the branches and trunk. If there is damage, the wound should be thoroughly cleaned, then it is disinfected using a solution of copper sulfate (1%). At the very end, the wound needs to be treated with petralatum. All heavily affected branches must be removed. Remove the dead bark from the trunk, and then rub this area with horse sorrel leaves 3 times, with the intervals between these procedures being 10 minutes. Then the wound is coated with garden varnish.
Another fungal disease is rust. In this case, the foliage of the plum tree is damaged. This disease is especially active in July. Convex brown or red spots appear on the front surface of the leaves, which become larger over time. Affected plants weaken, become less frost-resistant, and the foliage falls off earlier than expected. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to promptly clear the area of fallen leaves. Before the tree blooms, it must be sprayed with a solution of copper oxychloride (80 grams per 1 bucket of water), while 3 liters of the mixture should be used to treat one plant. When all the fruits have been collected from the tree, it should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture (1%).
Fruit rot can affect both stone fruit and pomaceous plants, for example: cherries, sweet cherries, apricots, quince, peach, apple trees, pears, etc. The first symptoms of this disease appear in mid-July, during fruit filling. At the beginning, brown spots form on the surface of the fruit, gradually increasing in size. After a while, light gray pads appear on the fruits, containing fungal spores; they are placed in concentric circles. For preventative purposes, you need to pick and burn all infected fruits. But this should be done very carefully, since when diseased fruits come into contact with healthy ones, the latter become infected. The tree needs to be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture (1%).
Coccomycosis is one of the most dangerous fungal diseases. In an affected specimen, not only leaf plates may be damaged, but also young shoots, as well as fruits. The first symptoms of such a disease can be seen in the middle summer period Thus, specks of violet-purple or brown-red color appear on the surface of the leaf blades, they gradually increase in size until they merge with each other. A pinkish coating consisting of fungal spores appears on the underside of the affected leaves. The affected tree has a decrease in frost resistance, the leaf blades become yellow, then brown and fly off, the development of fruits stops, they become watery and dry out after some time. For prevention purposes, in the autumn it is necessary to rake and burn fallen leaves, and also dig up the area. When all the fruits have been collected, the infected plant must be sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture (1%) or copper oxychloride (30 to 40 grams per bucket of water).
If a black coating appears on the surface of the foliage, this indicates that a sooty fungus has settled on the plant. It washes off very easily. This coating makes it much more difficult for oxygen and light to reach plant cells, resulting in a slowdown in processes such as photosynthesis. The first step when a plaque appears is to find out why it happened. The cause of sooty fungus can be an overly thickened crown or high humidity soil. First you need to completely eliminate the cause of this plaque and only then spray the tree with a copper-soap solution (150 grams of soap and 5 grams of copper sulfate for 1 bucket of water). If desired, instead of copper sulfate, you can use copper oxychloride or Bordeaux mixture.
Marsupial disease is also a fungal disease. The appearance of its first symptoms is observed after the plum tree has flowered, and its fruits are damaged and become ugly. The affected fruits grow, but their seeds do not develop; a powdery-waxy coating appears on their surface, containing fungal spores. To avoid further spread of the disease, you need to cut out the affected branches immediately after detection. It is also necessary to collect and destroy the affected fruits. The infected plant should be sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture 2 times: during the period when the buds turn light pink and immediately after the plum has faded.
When a plum tree is affected by root canker, growths form on the surface of the root collar and roots. The disease begins to develop due to pathogenic bacteria in the soil; they penetrate into the roots through wounds and cracks. An adult plant affected by cancer experiences a cessation of growth, while diseased seedlings do not take root, which leads to their death. This disease develops especially actively during the dry period, especially in slightly alkaline or neutral soil. Where plants infected with this disease previously grew, plum seedlings cannot be planted. All gardening Tools should be treated with a solution of chloramine or formaldehyde. The growths that appear on the root system must be cut out, and then it is disinfected with a solution of copper sulfate (1%).
Milky sheen is a very dangerous and fairly common disease that affects most fruit crops, and trees also die from it. In the affected specimen, the leaf blades change their color to white-silver, holes appear on their surface, the tissue of the leaf blades dies, and the plum bark becomes dark. Often this disease affects young trees that have been damaged by frost in the winter. For preventative purposes, before wintering it is necessary to whitewash the base of the skeletal branches and trunks with lime. At the beginning of spring, you should preventively spray the plum with a urea solution, as a result it will become more resistant to fungal diseases, and will also receive the nitrogen that it needs at this time. Infected stems and branches should be cut out and burned.
In addition to these diseases, a plum tree can suffer from brown spot, witch's broom, fungal blight, dwarfism, mosaic disease, pox and branch dieback.
There are quite a large number of pests that can settle on a plum tree. Most often it is inhabited by hawthorn, cherry shoot moth, cherry slimy sawfly, lacewing, plum and apple codling moths, ringed silkworm, plum pollinated aphid and apple moth.
Apple comma scale insects are spreading across the bark of the plant. Being on the surface of young branches or shoots, it freezes, after which it is completely covered by the shield. If there is a very large number of scale insects on a tree, this will lead to its depletion and death. To combat this pest on dormant buds, you need to spray the plum and the surface of the tree trunk with a Nitrafen solution (200 to 300 grams per bucket of water). As soon as the plant fades, it needs to be sprayed with Karbofos solution (10%).
Quite often, pollinated plum aphids are found in garden plots. This pest can settle on peach, apricot, sloe, almond and plum. They live in very large colonies. If you look at the underside of the leaf blades of the affected plant, it will be covered with a very thick layer of such aphids. This insect contributes to the curling and drying of foliage, as well as rotting of the affected fruits. In addition, sooty fungus settles on the waste products of such insects. To get rid of this type of aphid, it is necessary to spray the plum with a solution of Nitrafen at the beginning of the spring period, and during the period of bud break and when the plant has faded - with a solution of Benzophosphate or Karbofos (10%). For prevention purposes, root shoots must be removed in a timely manner.
The codling moth is a butterfly whose caterpillars damage plum fruits, while they eat away the passages in the seeds, which they disguise with food waste glued together with cobwebs. In the fight against such a pest, it is necessary to regularly collect fallen fruits ahead of time, which must be destroyed. You should also regularly clean and disinfect the bark. After the tree has faded, you need to wait for half a month, and then treat it with a solution of Karbofos (3%) or a solution of Chlorophos (2%).
The hawthorn is a very large butterfly whose wingspan can reach 70 mm. The length of its caterpillar is approximately 0.45 m, its surface is covered with dense hairs. The caterpillar itself is painted black, and along its back there are 2 bright stripes of brown-yellow color. She eats front surface leaf blades, as well as flowers and buds. In some cases, caterpillars expose not only individual branches, but the entire plant. To combat them, you need to inspect the plum tree, collecting nests of hawthorns and caterpillars, then burn them. The caterpillars emerge from the nests in the last days of April, the first days of May, at this time the tree needs to be treated, and spraying must be repeated in the summer, when flowering has ended. For treatment, a Corsair, Actellik or Ambush solution is used, and its concentration should be 1%.
The cherry shoot moth also prefers to live on stone fruit trees. The caterpillars of this moth damage buds, leaf rosettes and buds, and they gnaw passages in young green shoots. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to systematically loosen and dig up the soil on the site. Before sap flow begins, the plum and the surface of the trunk circle should be sprayed with Nitrafen solution (2–3%). During swelling of the kidneys, it must be treated with a solution of Karbofos (10%).
The cherry slimy sawfly is also quite common in gardens. It settles on crops such as cherries, sweet cherries, quinces, pears, plums and hawthorns. The larvae of such a pest gnaw off the front surface of the leaf plates. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to systematically loosen the soil on the site, as well as dig it up. If there are a lot of pests, then the tree needs to be sprayed with a solution of Trichlorometaphos-3 or Karbofos (10%).
The plum moth prefers to settle on plums, apricots, cherry plums, peach and sloe. In a green fruit, 1 butterfly can lay about 40 eggs. The hatched caterpillars eat the pulp of the fruits, then they crawl out of them and move to a place more suitable for wintering. Gum droplets form on damaged fruits, their color changes to purple, and they fall off. If a plum tree is infected, you should manually collect the caterpillars and spray it during the period when the caterpillars appear with a solution of Karbofos or Benzophosphate, the concentration of which should be about 10 percent. After half a month, repeat spraying is carried out.
The ringed silkworm is a nocturnal moth. The caterpillars of such an insect devour the buds and foliage of the plum tree, and in the forks of the branches they make cobweb nests. Inspect the plant and collect all winter nests, as well as eggs that should be burned. The plum itself must be treated with tobacco infusion during bud opening, and then during the appearance of caterpillars. pharmaceutical chamomile or wormwood. Also quite often used for processing plants biological agents, for example, Dendrobacellin or Antobacterin, and spraying must be done according to the attached instructions.
The goldentail is a fairly large butterfly, painted white, whose wingspan can reach 50 mm. The danger for the plant is its pale green caterpillars, which eat all the pulp from the underside of the foliage. Using cobwebs, they make nests from the remains of leaf plates, where they spend the winter. Find all winter nests and burn them. Before the plum blossoms, it must be sprayed with a solution of Karbofos (3%).
Also, a plum tree can suffer from the apple-plantain aphid, apple glassfly, black plum sawfly, fruit striped moth, plum gall mite, moth moth, downy silkworm, subbark budworm, fruit moth, gypsy moth, leaf miner, red apple mite, goose, winter moth, western gypsy bark beetle, sapwood, pear trumpet moth, eastern codling moth and brown fruit mite. First, you need to determine which pest has disturbed the plum tree, and only then select a suitable product for spraying the affected plant.
With the help of root shoots, the plum tree tries to preserve itself, which is absolutely natural for every living organism. Intensive growth of root shoots can be triggered by cutting off branches or damaging the bark. Also, root shoots grow very actively if the scion and rootstock do not correspond to each other. It should be remembered that excessively active growth of shoots indicates that the plum tree has some problems. It is necessary to cut out root suckers not only because they can spoil the appearance of the garden plot, but the shoots also contribute to the weakening of the plum and a decrease in its yield. To stop the intensive growth of shoots, it is necessary to find out the cause of this problem and try to eliminate it.
The easiest way to remove the growth is to use pruners. To do this, you need to dig out its root, then it needs to be cut off at the point where it departs from the horse of the parent tree. Then the hole is filled with soil, which is compacted well.
Some gardeners are confident that if they get rid of root suckers on certain days, they will no longer bother them. These days are: April 3, June 22 and July 30. Whether to believe this or not, each gardener decides for himself.
In garden plots at mid-latitudes, hybrids and varieties of four types of plums are grown, namely: prickly plum (sloe), Chinese, domestic and American (this also includes Canadian). The most popular varieties of plums among gardeners are the domestic plum varieties; they are divided into 4 subspecies: Renclod, Hungarian, damson and Mirabelle.
Varieties are also divided into late-ripening, mid-ripening and early-ripening. They also distinguish drought-resistant and moisture-loving, non-frost-resistant and frost-resistant, as well as self-sterile and self-fertile varieties.
There are a very large number of different varieties of plums, so for any region you can choose several that are most suitable. In regions with a mild climate and relatively warm winters, a plum tree bearing fruit for a long time and abundantly is a common thing. However, varieties grown in the Moscow region will have slightly different qualities. The biggest problem is that this crop has relatively low frost resistance. However, thanks to many years of work by specialists, varieties have emerged that can be safely grown not only in the Moscow region, but also in colder regions. Varieties recommended for the Moscow region:
In addition to these varieties, in the Moscow region it is also recommended to cultivate such varieties as: Dashenka, Peresvet, Eurasia-43, Zagorsk, Kantemirovskaya, Yellow Krupny, Pamyati Finaeva, Krupnaya Novaya, ELSE-R, Skorospelka nova, Tula Black, Volgograd Seedling, Morning, Early yellow, Volga beauty, Nezhenka, Red ball, Egg blue, etc.
The ripening of fruits of early ripening varieties is observed from the last days of July to the end of the first ten days of August. Early varieties:
The following varieties are also often grown: Renklod early, Kubanskaya early, Red ball, Golden ball, Hungarian July, Hungarian Wangenheim, Montfort, Early, Sapa, Skorospelka red, Summer damson, Kliman, Nadezhda, Zarechnaya early, Skoroplodnaya, Kirghiz excellent, Sharovaya , Kuban comet, Early pink, Morning, etc.
Medium varieties of plums ripen from the second ten days of August to the 10th of September. Medium varieties:
Gardeners also grow the following varieties: Memory of Vavilov, Duche, Krasa Orlovschina, Kuban Legend, Vengerka Donetskaya, Vengerka Belorusskaya, Bogatyrskaya, Vetraz, Svetlana Primorskaya, Voloshka, etc.
Late varieties begin to ripen in the second ten days of September. Popular varieties:
Gardeners also quite often grow the following varieties: Vision, Primorskaya obilnaya, Svetlana, Krasnomyasaya, Canadian Vision, Hungarian Pulkovskaya, Valor, Pamyati Timiryazev, Zolotaya Kaplya, Prunes 4-39 TSHA, Renklod Michurinsky, Anna Shpet, Winter Red, Winter White, Hungarian Moscow, Autumn damson, October Hungarian, Tambov damson, Dubov damson, Memory of Finaev, Large-fruited blackthorn, etc.
Self-fertility and self-sterility of a plum - this characteristic is conditional and unstable. In different regions, depending on the climate, the same variety can be self-sterile, self-fertile, or partially self-fertile. In addition, the same plant could be self-fertile last season, but this season it will need pollinators. Partially self-sterile varieties are capable of bearing fruit on their own, but if pollinators grow nearby, this will increase the yield of such plants.
Dried and fresh fruits have a slight laxative effect; therefore, doctors advise eating them for constipation and intestinal atony. With hypertension and kidney disease, such fruits help reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Potassium compounds have a diuretic effect, eliminating salt deposits and swelling. Such fruits are recommended for rheumatism, metabolic disorders, gout, kidney damage, and heart disease. They also improve appetite and regulate the secretion of gastric juice.
It would seem that it would be easier than ever to grow a plum. But only a very self-confident and not very knowledgeable person can think this way. This culture has its own specifics and subtleties. These will be discussed in the selection of materials.
According to the nature of fruiting, varieties and types of plums are conventionally divided into three groups:
In the first group of plums, group buds predominate on strong annual growths- two or three in one node (usually the middle bud is leafy, and the lateral ones are flowering). Group buds are concentrated in the middle part of the shoot. Below are single flower buds. The apical bud and the few buds closest to it are single leaf buds. The following year, bouquet branches and spurs develop from the lower leaf buds on the annual shoot. Above them, stronger growth shoots develop. Flower buds produce flowers and fruits. The bouquet branches and spurs of the varieties of the first group are very short-lived. The yield is determined by the number of flower buds on an annual shoot. After picking the fruits, the branches become very bare, especially if single flower buds predominate. The varieties of the first group are characterized by early fruiting and productivity, but require constant attention to maintaining strong shoot growth. This group includes most varieties of Chinese, Ussuri, American and Canadian plums.
Varieties of the second group are distinguished by the formation of perennial overgrowing branches or fruiting branches. The bulk of the harvest is placed on them. For varieties of this group, it is important that there is no excessive thickening of the crown, otherwise there will be a massive death of overgrown branches and fruiting will deteriorate. The second group includes mainly domestic plum varieties of Western European and southern origin.
The varieties of the third group have an intermediate fruiting pattern between the first and second groups. They bear fruit well both on annual growth and on relatively short-lived 3-4-year-old overgrowing branches. For varieties of the third group, along with maintaining strong growth, it is very important to promptly replace bare branches. The crown should also not be allowed to thicken; overgrowing branches should be in favorable lighting conditions. The third group includes the majority of Central Russian plum varieties: Skorospelka red, Vengerka Moscow. Tula black, Ochakovskaya yellow, etc.
When growing plums and pruning, it is necessary to remember that stone fruit crops have simple fruit buds, i.e., only fruits can be formed from them. On strong annual shoots there are group and single fruit buds. On weak growths, mostly single flower buds are formed. Therefore, when the growth weakens, the branches become exposed. It is enhanced by the fact that after two to four years of fruiting, the bouquet branches and spurs die off, forming thorns.
In summer, plum shoot growth may stop and then begin again. In this case, secondary shoots are formed.
The above-mentioned characteristics of plum growth and fruiting must be taken into account when pruning and forming the crown.
Plum The trees are formed with a trunk 25-40 cm high, the crown is made of 5 - 7 well-developed and well-placed branches. It is advisable to form skeletal branches not from adjacent buds, but from those spaced 10-15 cm from one another, shorten them to subordinate them, prevent the formation of forks, and change the direction of growth. The first pruning is carried out in early spring immediately after planting. If the start is late, then it is better to wait until next year.
Pruning the plum tree in the first years is necessary to form the main branches of the crown.. Excess branches, which can contribute to thickening of the crown, need to be weakened or removed. In varieties that bear fruit on annual shoots (one-year-old wood), shortening should be minimal so as not to cause the appearance of excessive branches that thicken the crown. Strong (50-60 cm) annual growths of young trees bearing fruit on two-year-old wood (bouquet branches and spurs) need to be shortened further. Well-developed shoots are shortened by 1/4-1/5 of their length to enhance the formation of shoots and the development of spurs.
When the tree enters full fruiting period, pruning is necessary to maintain vigor of shoots. If the crown is formed correctly and there is sufficiently strong annual growth (at least 40 cm), there is no need to shorten it. They are limited to thinning the crown with cutting out thickening, dry, incorrectly positioned and rubbing branches. With weak growth (less than 25-30 cm), without shortening the one-year shoot, cut to 2-3-year-old wood above the nearest lateral branch. If the growth is even less (10-15 cm), rejuvenating pruning is carried out on 4-5-year-old wood, that is, perennial branches are cut to strong lateral branching.
In grafted, well-developed trees, the root shoots are removed annually to the main root of the mother plant, leaving no stumps. In native root varieties, shoots are used for propagation. In case of severe freezing or death of the entire above-ground part, rooted varieties can be quickly restored by leaving two or three coppice plants at a distance of about 3 m from one another and forming them according to the described type. In case of death of grafted trees, you can also leave 2-3 coppice plants, but they must be regrafted with the desired varieties.
Plum November December. Regularly trample the snow on the tree trunks and around the buried seedlings to prevent mice from getting to the young trees. During heavy snowfalls, shake snow off branches. This will reduce their breakdowns. For better overwintering, sprinkle the buried seedlings with snow.
Before the onset of severe frosts, prepare cuttings (annual shoots 20-30 cm long) for spring grafting. Leaving the preparation of cuttings until spring is risky, since in winter the shoots may freeze and the survival rate of the grafts will sharply decrease. Tie the cut cuttings into bundles and store them in a snow pile until spring. The temperature inside the pile remains at about 0″. Snow protects cuttings from drying out, low winter and high spring temperatures.
January. In snowless winters, shovel snow up tree trunks to protect the roots and trunk from freezing. After snowfalls, shake snow off branches to avoid damage. In young gardens, after a snowfall, trample the snow around the trees to protect them from damage by mice and the accumulation of moisture in the soil.
February. Continue snow removal and repair work in the garden gardening tools, delivery of fertilizers, pesticides, etc. At the end of the month, remove the snow from the plum stems and free them from the winter binding. It should be immediately taken out of the garden and burned. Whiten the stems and bases of the branches lime mortar(3 kg of freshly slaked lime -) - 2 kg of clay per bucket of water). This will help in the winter-spring period to smooth out temperature fluctuations on the surface of the bark during the day and reduce the appearance of sunburn.
To keep the snow in the pile where the cuttings are planted longer, sprinkle it with sawdust in a 15-20 cm layer at the end of February.
March. To attract birds in the first half of the month, hang birdhouses in the garden. Start pruning your plum tree in the middle of the month.
April. Continue unfinished work on cleaning the trunks and caring for the crown. Dig grooves to drain melt water.
When planting plums, take into account the strength of tree growth depending on soil and climatic conditions and varietal characteristics. In the southern regions of the country fertile soils plum trees develop more strongly, so plant them more spaciously - with a distance of 3-4 m in a row and 5-6 m between rows, in the middle zone, Siberia and Far East- thicker: 2-3 m in a row and 3-5 m between rows.
The best time to plant plums in the middle and northern zones is spring, in the south - autumn and winter.
As soon as the soil is ripe (becomes loose and crumbly), level the area and start digging holes (if this work has not been done in the fall). The size of the planting holes depends on the size of the root system. Usually, holes are prepared with a diameter of 60-80 cm and a depth of 40-60 cm. When digging holes, throw the top layer of soil in one direction and the bottom layer in the other. Mix the top layer of soil with organic and mineral fertilizers, adding 1 bucket of rotted manure (or 2 buckets of compost), 200-300 g (2-3 handfuls) of superphosphate and 40-60 g of potassium salt (or 300-400 g of wood ash). Then place the seedling against the stake in landing hole, straighten the roots, cover with fertile soil, compacting it with your feet so that no voids form between the roots. Immediately after planting, make a hole around the seedling, water it with water (2 buckets), tie the seedling to a stake with twine in the shape of a figure eight (loose), mulch with peat, sawdust or loose soil. Scatter the bottom layer of soil around the area. After planting, the root collar of the plants should be at soil level.
If the garden is already planted, dig up the soil under the crown and between the rows with a fork or shovel. To avoid damaging the root system, the plane of the shovel should always be in a radial direction to the trunk. Closer to the trunk, dig shallower (to a depth of 5-10 cm), as you move away - deeper (10-15 cm). Before digging, scatter nitrogen fertilizers under the tree crown (100-200 g per tree of urea or calcium nitrate in a young garden, 300-500 g in a fruit-bearing one). They will provide good growth and plum blossom.
For guard flowering trees Prepare smoke heaps to protect against returning spring frosts.
Sometimes cherries and plums are planted in lowlands, where cold air often stagnates in winter, causing damage or death of flower buds and branches. If the site is located in a lowland, you will have to abandon the cultivation of stone fruit crops.
It is necessary to know the depth of gruit water. They should not be closer than 1.5-2.0 m from the soil surface. If they are located closer together, cherries and plums should not be planted.
The importance of crown pruning should not be underestimated: it is sometimes carried out irregularly, causing the crown to thicken, fruit formations to die, and fruiting becomes irregular. Trees overloaded with harvest freeze slightly even in relatively mild winters and bear little fruit. This is why cherry and plum trees need to be pruned annually.
At the end of the month, start grafting the cuttings. This work can be done during the sap flow period.
Plum May. If the air temperature drops to +1°, light the smoke piles. Stop smoking 1 to 2 hours after sunrise. To mitigate the effects of frost, water the soil under the trees and spray the crowns with water.
In hot, dry weather, be sure to water the plums (4-6 buckets of water per 1 tree). Before flowering, it is useful to feed the tree with organic or mineral fertilizers. Organic fertilizers (cow manure, bird droppings or feces) are diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10 and 4-6 buckets of solution are applied under the tree (depending on the age of the garden). If there are no organic ones, liquid mineral fertilizers are used. One tablespoon of urea is dissolved in 10 liters of water and 2-3 buckets are applied to a young garden, and 4-6 buckets of liquid fertilizer per tree in an adult garden. To reduce moisture loss due to evaporation, immediately after fertilizing, mulch the soil with peat or sawdust.
If the row spacing of the garden is kept under black fallow, weeding and loosening of the soil are carried out 2-3 times a month. With natural grass, mow the grass regularly (5-6 times during the summer) and leave it in place as mulch.
Remove wild growth or harvest it for propagation.
June July. Continue caring for the plum garden: remove weeds, loosen tree trunks and row spacing. In dry years, water (5-7 buckets for each tree). After flowering (at the beginning of June) and during the formation of fruits (at the end of June), it is useful to fertilize with organic and mineral fertilizers. The doses of fertilizers are the same as for spring feeding.
In productive years, place supports under the main branches.
Aug. Sept. In gardens with natural turf between rows, mowing of grasses is stopped. If the soil is kept under black fallow, dig up tree trunk circles and autumn plowing between rows. Before digging, scatter organic and mineral fertilizers evenly under the tree crown. Good results are obtained by alternately applying organic and mineral fertilizers (every year). Per one tree they contribute organic fertilizers(humus or compost) 1-2 buckets, mineral - 200-500 g of superphosphate, 200-400 g of potassium salt (or 1-1.5 kg of wood ash). For young plantings, the doses of fertilizers are reduced, for fruit-bearing ones they are increased. Autumn fertilization improves the ripening of shoots, overwintering of plants and provides them with the nutrients necessary for growth and fruiting next year.
If the soil is personal plot sour, lime them once every three years. To do this, grind the lime materials (slaked lime, ground limestone, dolomite, chalk), scatter them evenly over the area (300 - 500 g per 1 m2 of surface) and dig them up.
In August-September, plums are harvested, canned and processed.
For better overwintering of trees (especially in dry years), carry out moisture-recharging irrigation (5-7 buckets of water for 1 tree).
Start digging holes for spring planting. Purchase planting material in the fall. For better overwintering, it is better to store seedlings in a trench. To do this, dig a groove 30-40 cm deep, lay the seedlings inclined (lowering the roots into the groove), sprinkle them with soil, compact it with your feet, water well (1 bucket of water for each plant), sprinkle soil on top again to form an earthen roller 20 cm high -30 cm. In this condition, the seedlings winter well until spring.
Plum October. Moisture-recharging irrigation is completed, followed by mulching of the soil.
Clean the trunks and bases of branches from dead bark, mosses and lichens. After cleaning the wounds with a knife, rinse them with a 2-3% (20-30 g per 1 liter of water) solution of iron or 1-2% (10-20 g per 1 liter of water) copper sulfate. Then cover the wounds with garden varnish. If there are hollows, seal them with cement. White the trunks and bases of the branches with lime mortar (the concentration is the same as in February).
To protect young trees from rodents (hares, mice), tie the trunks with spruce branches (tops of branches down). For better overwintering, cover the trees with soil in a layer of 15-20 cm. Rake fallen leaves into piles and compost or burn (to destroy pests and diseases).
Plum When caring for plantings of stone fruit crops, amateur gardeners often make mistakes, which is why they receive low fruit yields.
One of typical mistakes- dense plantings of trees. When the crowns close, the illumination of the branches deteriorates and they rush upward, which makes tree care and harvesting difficult. This circumstance should be taken into account when planting a garden.
Many mistakes are not made experienced gardeners when applying fertilizers. It is not uncommon to add too much or too little at one time. Large doses of organic fertilizers can cause fattening of young trees, delay the growth of shoots, and impair their ripening, which increases the danger of winter freezing. Increased doses of mineral fertilizers, in turn, increase the concentration of salts in the soil, which has a depressing effect on fruit trees. When applying low doses of fertilizers on poor soils, trees grow and bear fruit poorly. Therefore, you need to adhere to the optimal doses for your specific area.
Often the reason for low fruiting of cherries and plums is the incorrect selection of pollinating varieties. In single-varietal plantings of self-sterile varieties, trees often bloom well, but bear almost no fruit due to premature shedding of the ovaries. In such cases, it is necessary to plant pollinating varieties (the same flowering period as the main varieties) or graft their cuttings into the crown.
Plum Stone fruits may bear fruit poorly due to freezing of fruit buds or their partial damage. If the fruit buds do not bloom, it means they are frozen. Often in early spring freezing of the pistil (central part) of the flower is observed. In this case, the tree blooms profusely, but does not form an ovary. Therefore, select highly winter-hardy varieties. In addition, you can protect trees from frost by preparing them well for winter: carry out moisture-recharging irrigation in the fall (especially after a dry summer), apply organic and mineral fertilizers, and protect plants from pests and diseases.
