Spring fertilization - how do growers know when nature is on their side?
One of the most important factors determining success in orchard production is proper tree fertilization, especially the starting one – spring fertilization. How do European fruit growers know when to start it so that trees produce abundant fruit crops of exceptional quality?
In order to obtain abundant crops of tasty, firm and juicy apples, trees must be properly nourished. Timing is of the essence here. To know this, it is worth getting to know the life cycle of a European orchard.
In European orchards in autumn and winter, when the air temperature is below 0°C, apple trees undergo the so-called rest period in which their vital activities are reduced to a minimum. This is a leafless period when they do not need fertilization or irrigation. However, when orchards wake up from their winter sleep, they require appropriate support.
As the temperature rises in spring, apple trees begin to come out of their winter rest, their buds begin to swell, then burst, and flowering begins. Later, the fruit buds grow, until the autumn harvest, after which trees again fall into winter sleep. In this way, the annual life cycle of orchards comes full circle.
An orchard’s natural biological clock
In orchards, the period from the beginning of vegetation to its end can be divided into smaller stages. They are related to weather conditions and are characteristic of successive seasons. They determine the state of tree development. They result from the natural course of the vegetation season, and due to the fact that they repeat every year, they can constitute an indication for fruit-growers what activities should be performed in orchards at a given moment.
At each of these stages, trees require specific agrotechnical treatments. It is thanks to these observations that fruit-growers can make rational decisions regarding, for example, commencing or completing fertilization with individual nutrients – different ones in the spring time, when trees need to be supported in blooming, and others in the summer and autumn time – when fruits are growing.
Tree fertilization, especially based on ingredients of natural origin, such as sea algae extracts, and other agrotechnical treatments carried out in accordance with the natural biological clock result in European apples having a unique taste and meeting high quality requirements.