Document text
Literary Gardener: Caring for fruit trees during our false spring Sunday Feb 26, 2017 at 12:01 AM By Rhonda Nowak for the Mail Tribune “Sometimes the heavy cold rains would beat [spring] back so that it would seem that it would never come and that you were losing a season out of your life.”  — Ernest Hemingway, “A Moveable Feast,” 1964   This quote came from Hemingway’s last manuscript, a story based on his life as a young, not yet published, writer in Paris during the 1920s. Hemingway’s description of false springs reminds me of my impatience around this time of year in Southern Oregon. Spring seeps into the Rogue Valley with early intermittent patches of warm sunshine that fill in the ragged edges of winter’s lingering wind and rain. Our “false” spring doesn’t mean to be misleading. It’s just tentative, newly bumping up against the stubborn winter season. Yet, the truth of spring’s arrival resides in the swollen buds on our fruit trees. The buds remind us that it’s time for another application of fungicide to protect fruit trees from diseases that commonly occur in our area. It’s also time to observe last year’s fruit tree growth to determine the best course of action for fertilizing. Fixed copper sprays are useful for controlling fungal and bacterial diseases, such as blights, leaf spots and cankers. To be effective, copper-based products must be sprayed on dormant fruit trees at intervals during November through March. The last application of copper should be applied just before bud break. Try to time the application so the solution can seep into the stems before rain washes it away. Always follow label directions for recommended strength and other application guidelines. Wear gloves and glasses for protection when using copper sprays. Also, be aware that copper can build up in soil if it’s used for several seasons, eventually becoming toxic to soil organisms. Right before bud break is also a good time to apply compost and organic fertilizer to fruit trees, but keep in mind that high-nitrogen fertilizers focus the tree’s energy on producing more leaves and less fruit. On the other hand, a fruit tree may benefit from a boost of nitrogen (and other nutrients) if it shows a slow rate of growth from last year. To help make that decision, examine one of the fruit tree’s branches and find the point where the branch started growing last year. This is last year’s growth ring. Measure from the growth ring all the way to the tip of the branch. Assess several branches this way, and then average your measurements to find the tree’s annual growth. Targeted yearly growth rates for mature, fruit-bearing trees are 8 inches for plum, apricot and cherry trees, and 12-18 inches for peach, pear and nectarine trees. Ideal annual growth rates for apple trees are 6-10 inches for the compact, spur-bearing apple trees and 12-18 inches for ganglier tip-bearing varieties. If the annual growth of the fruit tree falls below or at the low end of the targeted rate, apply an organic, high-nitrogen fertilizer such as blood meal, or an organic fruit tree fertilizer such as the Dr. Earth brand. To find the amount of actual nitrogen in fertilizer, look for the N-P-K numbers on the package (such as 5-5-2). The first number indicates the percentage of nitrogen by weight contained in the package, so 5-5-2 means the fertilizer package contains 5 percent nitrogen (as well as 5 percent phosphorus and 2 percent potassium). For every pound of fertilizer applied, there is only .05 pounds of nitrogen. One pound of actual nitrogen is the maximum amount a fruit tree should be given in one year. To supply that amount of nitrogen with a 5 percent nitrogen fertilizer, 20 pounds of fertilizer would be needed. For pictures and more about fertilizing fruit trees, see my blog at http://blogs.esouthernoregon.com/theliterarygardener/. — Rhonda Nowak is a Rogue Valley gardener, teacher and writer. Email her [email protected].