On Gardening: Time to labor for one’s fruits

February is a critical time for growing and taking care of fruit trees. The gardener’s list of things to do in the fruit orchard this month can be quite long and laborious. There’s planting, training, pruning, fertilizing, spraying … That’s a lot of work for such a short month.

Planting

The winter months are the ideal time to purchase and plant fruit trees, bushes and vines. With so many varieties that can be grown in Alabama, there has to be one out there that will work well for you.

Before you go out and buy just anything, do your homework on the fruit varieties that are adapted for our area and will be successful. Growing fruits requires a lot of work, so starting off on the wrong foot with a poor variety will only cause more headaches down the road.

Your local Extension office has a complete list of names of different fruits that are best for homeowners.

Once you have your fruit trees or small fruits, take a little extra time to plant and space your plants correctly. An orchard is a long-term investment, so be sure and do it right from the beginning.

Training

Once fruit trees and small fruits have been planted, training must begin. Growth must be trained properly to maximize fruit production, and to make sure the plant is strong enough to hold up the weight of the fruit.

Young plants are typically trained for the first several years, primarily to develop the plants’ proper shape and size.

Once flowering and fruiting begins and is allowed, usually in the third or fourth year, some additional training is done to help prevent the breakage of limbs.

Pruning

Pruning fruits is always a chore, but doing this task each year will result in a healthy production of quality fruit.

The first pruning cut should be to remove any sucker growth that may have sprouted below the graft.

Next, all diseased and damaged wood should be taken out.

Then, as you look at the fruit tree, cut out all growth that crosses or rubs other branches.

Since fruit develops where it gets adequate sunlight and air, areas that are thick in growth or crowded must be thinned or opened up to allow more light and air movement.

Lastly, prune and trim back any other growth down to a more reachable, comfortable size.

Fertilizing

Applying fertilizer in February allows the plants to take up the nutrients through the roots and into the trunk and branches, so that these nutrients are available when new shoot growth occurs in the spring.

In general, nitrogen is the most essential element for fruits. Nitrogen is needed annually to develop new shoot growth, to maintain healthy green foliage, and for proper growth, maturity and optimum fruit production.

Too little nitrogen results in short growth, yellowing foliage and fruit that is small, well-colored and early maturing.

Too much nitrogen causes excessive growth, dark green foliage and fruit that is poorly colored and late maturing.

Most fruits need only moderate levels of phosphorus and moderate to high levels of potassium in the soil, as determined by soil tests.

One of the problems that can develop in home plantings is excessive buildup of phosphorus in the soil. This occurs because of the constant use of fertilizers that have high amounts of phosphorus (such as 8-8-8, 10-10-10, or 13-13-13).

The soil should be analyzed every two or three years to check the phosphorus level. When it becomes high, phosphorus should be omitted from the fertilizer and only added periodically as needed.

Spraying

February also marks the time to begin spraying fruits for insect pests and diseases. Many insect pests, such as scale and mites, can become a major problem if control isn’t started or maintained.

Dormant or superior oils applied in February provide good control of overwintering insects and will protect the flower buds that will be opening in early spring.

You must cover all areas of the plant — leaves, fruit and twigs — whenever you spray. Also, you will have to spray more during wet weather.

Shane Harris is an extension agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. For help on other home and garden questions, contact your local county Extension office or visit www.aces.edu.

Fruits with Bill & Sheila
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