Rules for watering apple trees: how to water after planting, during flowering, fruiting, and in winter

Many gardeners believe there's no need to bother with watering their orchards. They say a fruit-bearing tree already has strong roots and a lush crown, so it can obtain sufficient water from the soil and air. However, this is a misconception. Such neglect of watering significantly impacts the quantity and quality of fruit. For example, apple trees often suffer from water shortages. If you want to harvest large, juicy apples from your trees every season, familiarize yourself with the proper watering practices for these crops.

Optimal watering frequency

First of all, a responsible gardener should pay attention to how deeply the soil is moistened when watering. To ensure proper watering, use a 15 cm or longer ribbed stick. Press the stick into the soil and check the optimal volume of water for each specific area. The length of the stick that is covered with dirt will indicate how deeply the water penetrates.

There is also a standard watering regime for seed gardens:

• the first time water is added 15 days after the tree has flowered;
• the second time irrigation is carried out when the active growth of young apples begins;
• the third time you need to add liquid is when buds appear on the shoots that formed in the current season;
• the fourth portion of water will be required by the trees after harvesting from summer varieties of fruit trees or when winter varieties ripen;
• and the last time you need to water the plantings is after the leaves have fallen.

Do not add water during active flowering or immediately after its completion, as excess moisture can negatively affect the number of fruits set and lead to the formation of mold or rot.

During hot and dry summer periods, apple trees may require additional watering. So, add two to three additional portions of water.

When to water apple tree plantings in summer:

1. Water should be added once or twice at the end of June or during July.
2. You can water the trees once when their fruits begin to fill out and just begin to color.

Is it necessary to add water to apple tree seedlings after planting?

The first watering of the seedlings should be done on the same day you complete the planting process. If you're having trouble getting enough moisture, you can wait a little longer, but watering should still be done within 25-30 hours of planting.

If you planted in the spring and it turned out to be damp and muddy, then reduce the amount of water added to a minimum (no more than 7 liters per seedling when planting).

During the tree's first summer of active growth, it needs to be watered 3-5 more times. The exact number of waterings is difficult to calculate, as it depends on the soil composition in each specific area, as well as how the soil was prepared for planting (whether the planting hole was prepared in advance, the soil was loosened, fertilized, etc.). Also, keep in mind the specific terrain:

1. If apple trees grow in areas where prolonged periods of heat are rare, then irrigation is carried out three times.
2. If the site has predominantly sandy soils, is constantly windswept, and the summer is typically dry and very hot, then five irrigations per season will not be enough. In such conditions, the second irrigation should be performed 25 days after the first if there was sufficient rainfall, and two weeks later if the spring was dry.
3. The fifth time water is added to the seedlings in August, if the days are too hot and clear.

Dry autumns are common in steppe regions. If this happens, water the plants and then remove any unripe shoot tips.

During abnormally hot weather, one-year-old apple trees need to be watered at least once every ten days until the heat subsides. Watering is done in a circular ditch 15 cm deep (placed one meter from the tree's trunk).

How to water apple trees using a drip irrigation system

The most common method for watering dwarf and palmetto apple trees in orchards. It works well because it moistens the soil directly beneath the root system of each tree:

1. When watering using drip irrigation, use only filtered water to avoid clogging the drippers with various debris or sediment.
2. The flow rate of liquid during this type of irrigation can be adjusted depending on needs: you can arrange for water to penetrate the substrate slowly, or completely open the line to quickly saturate the plantings with moisture.
3. The liquid (which is deepened into the ground) comes from the feeder tank under low pressure, then goes through the main pipe, through the sleeve and goes directly to the dripper.
4. Irrigation hoses are typically installed in new gardens at a distance of 50–95 cm from the tree trunks. A distance of 2 meters is maintained between rows of hoses.
5. Since trees require more and more water as they grow, and their root system becomes more extensive, every 5–8 years a new sleeve is extended from the other side, at the end of which a second drip is installed 50 cm from the base of the tree.

Principles of apple tree irrigation at different times of the year

The irrigation regime for apple trees changes depending on the season.

Spring irrigation: nuances

In most regions, spring is marked by heavy rainfall, so additional watering would be harmful even for apple trees. However, if the orchard is located in a region where the weather is dry and hot for most of the warm seasons, watering should be done before the trees begin to bloom.

The best time to water the plants is when the buds begin to form. If the heat sets in just as the flowers are beginning to bloom and the soil is dry, then closer to dusk, water the entire garden in furrows or apply at least five buckets of water per mature tree.

Should apple trees be watered during active flowering? This question is often asked by gardening novices. If the soil beneath the apple tree is sufficiently moist, then additional watering is not necessary during this period. However, if the air is excessively dry and there is insufficient mobile water in the root zone, watering is necessary.

Summer watering

During this time, it's especially important to monitor the soil moisture level in the garden. This is especially true for those growing apple trees in hot and arid regions:

1. Irrigation plays a major role in the first half of the summer season, immediately after the ovaries have fallen (approximately mid- to late June). The first portion of the liquid is applied at this time.
2. The second watering is given to the plants approximately 14–20 days later. However, if the weather is dry and the sun is blazing hot every day, the frequency of watering should be increased (but without changing the volume of water applied).

Autumn irrigation

It is not a good idea to overwater in the fall, especially if the plants are already significantly moistened by frequent rains.

Particular care should be taken with watering in September, when the weather is warm. Excessive watering can cause the tree to enter the active vegetative growth phase, preventing its shoots from accumulating sufficient sugars. This can lead to frost damage and the death of all plantings in the freezing winter.

Principles of watering apple trees in hot weather

Prolonged heat is dangerous for even the most robust fruit trees, especially apple trees. So if unusually hot weather is occurring in your region, consider providing additional irrigation for your crops.

Usually, watering fruit plantings is divided into two parts:

• the first half is poured into the furrows until absorption stops;
• The second part should be poured over the shoots or in a layer 1.5 meters from the ground; this will help saturate the entire area of ​​the substrate covered by the roots.

It's best to irrigate at sunset. If there aren't many plants and there are no irrigation systems, the amount of water for each apple tree will be as follows:

• for trees up to 35 years old – 40 liters of water;
• for trees older than 35 years – 45–50 liters of water.

Irrigation during fruiting

During apple ripening, water the trees only in furrows made around the crown (but only if there is a clear moisture deficit). Other irrigation methods are prohibited!

Moisture-charging irrigation

Before the onset of winter cold, all apple trees should be given a moisture-recharging irrigation to help them prepare for winter. On average, during the fall watering, apple trees should be watered as much as one tree can absorb (usually up to 12 buckets or slightly more). This procedure ensures that the trees do not dry out.

Is it allowed to water apple tree plantings with various preparations?

Many gardeners, in pursuit of a bountiful harvest, resort to watering their plants with other fertilizers, such as copper or iron sulfate, organic fertilizers, and other compounds. But such experiments don't always end successfully.

Use of ferrous sulfate

You can find numerous pieces of advice online and in specialized literature from "academicians" who recommend watering apple trees with ferrous sulfate. This is supposedly done for preventative or curative purposes. chlorosisDissolve a handful of ferrous sulfate in a bucket of water and water the area with this mixture after the apple tree has shed its leaves. These "experts" recommend performing this procedure once every three years.

However, you shouldn't blindly trust such advisers. Iron It's a highly mobile metal, so by spring it will have time to bind so tightly that the apple tree roots won't be able to absorb it. However, an inexperienced gardener can easily disrupt the nutrient balance in the root zone with such an experiment. chlorosis It's not worth it this way.

Irrigation with copper sulfate

The situation here is roughly the same as with ferrous sulfate. This mixture should not be used on fruit trees, as excess copper can trigger mutations and degeneration of various parts of the fruit (apples in particular). Deformations can range from the formation of inedible spots on the apples to canker of the shoots.

Is it allowed to water apple trees with water from a well?

In principle, watering fruit trees (including apple trees) with water from a stream, well, or garden well is permitted. The key is to know the exact volume of water required for each tree. However, the water temperature must be closely monitored. If it is close to freezing, do not apply this water to the plants.

If the water temperature is between 4 and 6 degrees Celsius, it's certainly not ideal, but it's better to water the plants with such water than to leave them, for example, without any moisture during a drought. Just don't water branches or trunks with such water. Only water into soil furrows and ditches between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Is it possible to use water from a septic tank?

Any viruses, harmful microorganisms, bacteria, or worms in standard septic tanks cannot be killed without special treatments or thorough steaming. Therefore, pouring water from such tanks onto fruit or onto your hands can lead to unpleasant consequences.

Adding organic matter (chicken manure)

Watering with a solution of chicken manure is allowed, but you need to proceed with extreme caution. The organic solution is too concentrated. top dressing It can easily burn trees. To prevent burns, dissolve one bucket of manure in 10-15 buckets of cold water, stir, and let it sit for 24-48 hours. Then, apply a bucket of this fertilizer to the tree trunk, but only under fruiting trees. Apply a third of a bucket to new trees.

Soap solution

It's permissible to apply a solution of fatty soap to plantings. Mixtures of ordinary soap scraps, liquid soap residue, and other products contain large amounts of parabens and other harmful compounds. Essentially, they're nothing more than dishwashing liquid. Therefore, such mixtures can be dangerous to soil life.

Uses of manganese

Only a weak solution of potassium permanganate may be added to the soil to prevent pests and diseases and to disinfect the soil. This mixture is sometimes used to kill earthworms, which threaten the health of apple tree roots.

However, in large quantities and in high concentrations, such a product can destroy many useful substances in the substrate, so such a composition is not used when watering apple trees.

Is it possible to add yeast mixtures?

Mixtures prepared from dry mix or packaged mass are not suitable. Such mixtures can only be effective if they contain sugars (the sweeter, the better). Where can you find sugar-rich soil in your garden? That's why gardeners often add fermented wine, kvass, and beer lees, diluted with water. This is useless for open soil.

The maximum places where such a procedure can work are hotbeds or greenhouses, as well as containers, and then only in the form of tray yeast sediment.

Pouring boiling water

Want to kill your apple trees? Then watering them with boiling water is the best solution. No living tree or bush can survive exposure to liquids at 50 degrees Celsius or higher. So, don't experiment with your apple trees.

Conclusion

Although many apple trees are considered fairly resilient to adverse climate conditions, it's still important to remember to water them properly. Follow all recommendations and apply water only as directed. Then your garden will delight you with a bountiful harvest for many years to come.