Every gardener wants to get a decent harvest. Plum growing on the site, with proper care, will delight its fruits, from which you can cook jam, make compotes. In addition, the plum has healing properties.
How to plant a plum
The best time to plant is spring. A pit is prepared two weeks before the procedure. Its diameter is about 80 cm, depth - 70 cm. Humus, organic and mineral fertilizers must be added to the fertile soil and mixed. The soil mixture is laid in a hole and well watered.
The roots of the tree are sprinkled with the upper layer of soil, a little tamped. Planted plum immediately watered with 3-4 buckets of water, the soil around is mulched.
How to care for plums?
In order to get a good harvest, competent and regular care is required. Plum is a water-loving plant, so you need to water it regularly and abundantly, especially in the hot season.
In the first three years there is no need to fertilize, but then, during flowering, you need to feed the tree using nitrogen fertilizers. In the autumn, they are fed with organic fertilizers (manure, urea).
Of course, feeding plums in spring is very important, but besides it, the tree needs protection from pests and diseases so that it grows healthy and gives a good harvest. It is very important to observe precautions when working with chemicals.
An equally important element of care is prune pruning. Forming pruning is carried out so that the fruits receive enough sun and air. For old trees, anti-aging pruning is performed to extend the life of the tree.
Let us consider in more detail each stage of plum care.
How to prune a plum in spring?
An important step in caring for a tree is its pruning, which must be carried out annually to prevent thickening of the crown. Such plum care is necessary in order for the tree to grow strong and healthy. The best time for this procedure is spring (late March - early April).
The first cutting step is thinning. This removes the extra branches and cuts off the shoots that grow up.
The next step is called shortening. Need to trim last year’s growth. This is necessary so that next year the tree has new fruit branches.
Pruning is carried out using special tools. Slices must be treated with garden varieties or special means.
The formation of a sparse-tier crown occurs over five years. At the base, you need to leave five to seven large branches, which are at an angle of 40-50 degrees from the trunk. There should be a distance of about 25 cm between the main and skeletal branches, best if they look in different directions. The main branches relative to the crown tiers should be located as follows: two of the three branches of the lower tier are on the same level.
To form a two-tier crown, the two main branches of the second tier must be at different levels.
Pruning a young tree
How to cut a plum in the spring in the first year of life? Plum differs in heterogeneous shoot growth, therefore, pruning of young trees needs to be done two to three times a year, while the central trunk is shortened once a year. In the first year of a tree’s life, the foundation is laid for the growth and development of skeletal branches. It is during this period that it is necessary to determine the height and shape of the tree.
Pruning a young plum as follows. First, the lower branch is shortened to the level of a good kidney, the upper part with underdeveloped kidneys is cut off. Then the remaining branches are shortened, except for the conductor. They are shortened to the cut level of the lower branch. The conductor is cut so that it is 20-25 cm higher or lower than the other branches (depending on what shape of the crown needs to be formed).
The skeleton of the crown is formed by cutting or tilting branches that grow in the wrong direction, so that they are in a semi-skeletal position.
Such actions are repeated until all the branches of the growing tree are laid.
Plum pruning in the second year of life
The procedure is carried out in mid-March, during this period, wound healing is faster. First of all, 3-4 skeletal branches are selected, which are cut into half or a third.
During the growing season, the formation of shoots on the trunk is possible. They are cut off by five to seven centimeters. In the second growing season, the shoots are cut off entirely.
Pruning old wood
Many gardeners are interested in the question of how to prune a plum in the spring, if it is no longer young? Pruning of old trees lasts about 15 years, until the sink reaches a height of about two meters. Then you need to cut the main trunk, as well as the largest branches. This procedure stops the growth of plums, so it is necessary to ensure that the crown is well lit.
In an old tree, only damaged and weak branches are most often cut. How to cut the plum in the spring, when the growth of new shoots stops or the yield decreases? In this case, anti-aging pruning is performed. For this, in early spring, old skeletal branches are cut. The resulting wounds are lubricated with garden var. When pruning large branches, so as not to damage the tree, they are filed from below, then the length is removed.
New shoots grow on the cut. Among them, you need to choose 3-4 of the strongest, removing the rest in July. The whole complex of anti-aging procedures must be stretched for 2-3 years, so as not to deplete the tree.
Plum dressing
A growing tree needs "nitrogen support." To do this, spray the plum with urea diluted in water (2 tbsp. Per 10 liters) in the first half of May. Plums that have entered the fruiting stage are fed as follows. Before the tree blooms, it is necessary to loosen the soil around it, moisten and water with a solution of urea and potassium sulfate (2 tbsp. Per 10 l of water).
The next top dressing of the plum in spring occurs when the berries are poured. For this, a solution is used - urea (2 tbsp. L.), Nitrophosk (3 tbsp. L.), Water (10 l).
After the tree takes off, it is fed a third time. For watering in water (10 l), potassium sulfate (2 tbsp.) And superphosphate (3 tbsp.) Are dissolved.
In addition, every year during fruiting, dung humus (1 bucket) mixed with fluffy lime or chalk (1 tbsp.) Is added to the soil around the plum. Such care for the plum will allow you to get a good harvest.
Pest protection
For the prevention and treatment of fungus, it is necessary to remove diseased leaves, fruits and shoots. All damaged branches must be burned. Garden putty or milk of lime with the addition of copper sulfate is used to disinfect slices. In the spring, before the leaves appear, the tree is treated with Bordeaux liquid.
In the fight against plum moth, the use of “Bitoxibacillin”, “Lepidocide”, “Haupsin” is effective. Processing of plums in the spring is carried out 4-6 times in 7-10 days.
To protect against plum pollinated aphids, special preparations are used or leaves are sprayed when blooming, infusions of such plants are used: garlic, chamomile, onions, wormwood, yarrow, dandelion, celandine.
Gumming also negatively affects the development of the tree. In gum bacteria multiply. Cameo-cure occurs if the tree grows in a damp and cold place. For protection, it is necessary to clean all wounds with a knife, and cover with garden var. Large wounds are tied with a bandage.
Caring for a plum tree is not much different from caring for other fruit trees. The main thing is to do everything correctly and on time. And knowledge about how to cut the plum in the spring, to feed and protect it from pests will allow you to get a good harvest every year.