TOP DRESSING OF THE GARDEN: WHAT CAN NOT BE DONE?
Before you start fertilizing plants on your site, you need to remember what to do is strictly prohibited. Take note of these 4 points if you do not want to lose crops or ruin the plant in the future:
- do not apply fluff lime (slaked lime) with phosphorus fertilizers at the same time. It is better to replace lime, which prevents the absorption of phosphorus by plants, with dolomite flour;
- do not mix urea (urea) with lime, chalk, simple superphosphate, dolomite flour or liquid fertilizers;
- do not spray plants during the day, especially in hot weather (foliar feeding is carried out at a temperature not higher than 28 ° C): sunburns may remain on the leaves, and fertilizers will not be absorbed properly;
- do not apply fertilizer to dry soil – this can burn the root system of the plant.
SPRING FEEDING OF TREES AND BUSHES
The plant always “signals” about this or that trouble – whether it is a disease, a pest, or a lack of microelements. To help your garden deal with nutrient deficiencies, you need to pay attention to changes in the appearance of the tree or shrub. To make it easier for you to “diagnose” the problem and apply the necessary fertilizer on time, we suggest using our table:
| Nitrogen.: | Young foliage slows down in growth, loses color, and the old one turns yellow at the edges (sometimes turns red). The shoots become thinner, the fruits become smaller (the ovaries may die altogether). The bark turns red (in apricot, cherry, plum). | Spraying with 0.5% urea solution: 50 g of granules per 10 liters of water. |
| Boron: | The leaves become thicker, darker, fall off. The flowers dry up, fruits of irregular shape grow (near an apple tree, a pear). The edges of the leaves die off, the leaves themselves are noticeably bent (in strawberries). | Spraying with boric acid solution: 10-20 g per 10 liters of water. Strawberries are sprayed with a weaker solution: 5 g of acid per 10 liters of water. |
| Potassium: | The leaves turn pale and curl, then darken and fall off. The shoots become thinner. Excessive flowering with the formation of small fruits is possible. | Spraying with any potassium-containing fertilizer. |
| Calcium: | The leaves of young shoots turn white, the tops wither and die. The shoots themselves thicken, the ovaries fall off. Old foliage turns yellow. | Soil liming (300-500 g of ground limestone per 1 sq. M). Reducing the application of potash fertilizers. |
| Magnesium: | The leaves brighten or turn red, while the veins do not lose color. Reddening in the form of stripes appears along the edges of the leaves (in currants, gooseberries). Also, a lack of magnesium can be expressed in yellowing of the leaves from the center to the edges (in raspberries). | Spraying with 0.2% magnesium solution: 20 g of substance per 10 liters of water. This dressing is carried out after flowering 2-3 times with an interval of 10 days. |
| Phosphorus: | Plants bloom later than usual. The leaves darken: first to dark green, then to purple-violet, after which they shrivel and fall off. Also, the leaves can curl (for example, in grapes). | Application of any phosphorus-containing fertilizer. |
The reasons why a plant begins to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies can be different:
- young, actively developing plants have a great need for nutrients, but the root system is still poorly developed and cannot fully “saturate” the aboveground part;
- in prolonged bad weather, when the temperature is not high enough, and there is little sunlight, plants absorb and assimilate microelements much worse;
- the “unsuccessful” composition of the soil on the site can make it difficult for the plant to assimilate nutrients. To learn more about the properties of the soil in your garden and vegetable garden, first determine the acidity of the soil.
Spring feeding of the garden is a very important stage in the care of berry bushes, fruit trees and ornamental crops. Throughout the year, grown plants consume moisture and nutrients from the soil, depleting it. To restore soil fertility, complex mineral and organic fertilizing is used. When applied correctly and on time, they restore the properties of the garden soil and ensure a rich harvest in the new season.