What is an intensive garden. How apples are grown in intensive orchards

Executive Director of the Association of Gardeners of Russia (APPYaPM), Chairman of the Association of Gardeners-Nurseries (ASP-RUS), Doctor of Agricultural Sciences

A modern system for creating and cultivating intensive apple orchards

Over the past 10 - 15 years, all gardeners in the world have joined the race for early maturity, quick payback, and high quality fruits. Advanced gardeners believe that the early fruiting of orchards is achieved primarily through the use of low-growing rootstocks, the establishment of orchards with high-quality planting material, and high planting density in combination with modern planting designs. The transition to new types of gardens has changed the technology in growing planting material in the nursery. In advanced nurseries, in recent years, in connection with this, approaches to growing seedlings for intensive gardens have changed.

In modern advanced nurseries, the main task is to obtain clonal rootstocks with a diameter in the conditional root collar of at least 10–12 mm in layering mother liquors. The length of the layer must be more than 60 cm, because landing in the first field of the nursery is carried out to a depth of more than 25 cm to enhance anchoring and obtain a multi-tiered root system, and budding is carried out at a height of 15-20 cm from the ground, which eliminates the transition of the scion to its own roots and enhances dwarfism. Scion cuttings are taken exclusively from virus-free cuttings mother liquors. In advanced countries, the transfer of queen cells for the release of virus-free material is ending.

Production of healthy planting material

The transition to new types of gardens has changed the technology for growing planting material in nurseries. Now the main task of nursery farmers is to obtain high-quality planting material with specified parameters for specific types of orchards. In most cases, a standard seedling is considered to be a one-year-old or two-year-old with a one-year-old crown more than 1.5 m high, having at least 3-5 lateral branches with a length of at least 40 cm, located along the central axis and on weak side branches of at least 7- 10 flower buds, which has a well-developed, multi-tiered root system with a root stem of at least 25 cm. It should be noted that the vast majority of seedlings are grown on dwarf and super-dwarf rootstocks. Such parameters in seedlings are achieved due to both a strong rootstock planted in the first field (advanced nursery growers plant cuttings of exclusively the highest and first (for the KNIP-BOM technology) grade in their fields), and due to elements of technology, first of all, a high-quality plant protection system , irrigation, top dressing, constant tillage, more free planting patterns, as well as through the use of growth regulators Promalin, Paturil and Tween, which stimulate the formation of branching and the laying of flower buds. Recently, mechanical methods have been widely used to form branching in one-year-olds, such as pinching the upper leaves while maintaining the growth point when the occulants reach a height of 30-40 cm.

In most types of gardens, the aisles are tinned. Soil cultivation, in our concept, is not carried out at all. In some cases, row spacing is cultivated in the year of planting. Wild crops of grasses are often used for grassing. In the rows of herbicide strips. Their width is constantly decreasing and is in the range from 1 to 1.5 m. Herbicides are applied twice a year. The first treatment is carried out in late May - early June with drugs such as Roundup or Basta mixed with 2.4D. The second treatment is carried out in October at a temperature above 10*C. Mixtures of Roundup with Simazine with the addition of ammonium sulphate are used.

The most common planting patterns in the intensive orchards of developed countries are single row plantings with a density of up to 3,500 plants per hectare. One-line V-shaped structures are being tested everywhere, as well as two, three and even six-line structures with a density of up to 10 thousand plants per hectare.

Row spacing, in most cases, ranges from 2.1 to 3 - 4 meters. It is determined by the strength of the growth of the variety-rootstock combination and the dimensions of the equipment used.

The most common shaping system is the "slender spindle". The stem is at least 40 cm high. The crown consists of branches of the first tier or fruit branches in the amount of 5 to 10 pieces, located along the central conductor with distances between them of 5-10 cm. All branches are supported in a horizontal position. On the central conductor and on the fruit branches of the first order there are fruit formations - ringlets, spears and twigs. The height of the trees is within 2.5 m.

Industrial apple variety - Golden Delicious

Much attention in structures with a shaping like a slender spindle is given to the support. Seedlings on dwarf and super-dwarf rootstocks begin to bear fruit in the year the garden is planted, provided that the garden is planted with high-quality planting material and optimal conditions are created using agricultural technology. Such orchards already in the second year are quite heavily loaded with crops and produce from 10 to 20 tons of high-quality fruits per hectare. Without the support of trees, with such a high early maturity and productivity, it is almost impossible to exploit these plantations.

In all intensive gardens, stakes are used as a support to support the trees. The most common are pine stakes treated with antiseptics with a diameter of up to 10 cm and a height of 3 meters. Particular attention should be paid to the processing of stakes. Untreated stakes, even having a diameter of more than 5 cm, rot in the second or third year and, with a high load of trees with fruits, do not withstand and break, which leads to the death of fruit plants. Processed stakes serve from 12 to 15 years. Also, plastic tubes, bamboo sticks, fittings in combination with a trellis are used as a support. The stability of the structure increases many times over when using a trellis. For the trellis, concrete poles are used, which are installed in rows every 20 - 25 meters. Basically, one wire is pulled at a height of 1.8 - 2 meters. There are designs with two wires at a height of 0.5 and 2 meters in combination with slats or bamboo sticks.

Stakes support the trees in an upright position, and also serve as the basis for gartering the main fruit branches. If the branches are not tied up, they often break under the weight of the fruit. The same happens if the twine supporting the fruit branches breaks. If there is a trellis, the branches are often tied to the wire. The garter is made with synthetic twine, moreover, the loop on the fruit branch is made free and not tightened. To tie trees to stakes, use a plastic tie or strips of plastic wrap. The stakes are tied to the trellis with wire. It should be borne in mind that with insufficient strength of the stakes and poor-quality tying them to the trellis in strong wind with rain, a significant number of fruit-bearing trees can be lost. It is necessary to use galvanized wire for the trellis, because. it does not rust and does not fray the central conductors tied to it.

Yield load of four-year-old apple trees of the Zhigulevskoe variety

Stakes are installed after planting with the help of a hydraulic drill connected to a sprayer or a pillar. Processed stakes are not recommended to be hammered in, because. this shortens their lifespan.

Protection of plants from pests and diseases, along with pruning and creating planting structures, is the most important element of the technology. The principle of its construction is one hundred percent protection of the leaf apparatus and fruits from pests and diseases. Particular attention is paid to the fight against scab.

In most intensive gardens, irrigation is used, mainly drip, because. water is expensive, and this system is the most economical in terms of water consumption. The rejection of hydrants is also due to the fact that sprinkling provides for the wetting of the leaf surface, which contributes to the development of scab and an increase in the cost of the plant protection system. On irrigated plots, the percentage of yield of fruits of the highest commercial qualities, and the price for them increases to 50%, reaches 97%. The difference is especially observed in dry years. Gardeners who do not have the funds for an irrigation system offset the lack of it by more careful rationing of the crop.

It is necessary to note the different approaches of gardeners to pruning and shaping trees in intensive and extensive gardens. These differences are mainly due to different planting densities. The goal of forming pruning in existing extensive orchards on seed and medium-sized rootstocks, which are mainly common in Russia, is to complete the formation of crowns within 6-7 years, create a powerful fruit wall or crown-row with great potential for productivity, and only then, under control according to the parameters of crowns, provide all the necessary conditions for abundant fruiting with constant or periodic renewal of fruit branches in all crown zones. To do this, it is necessary to maintain high growth activity in plants, otherwise the plantations enter into periodic fruiting with a sharp decrease in the quality of the fruit.

Using the intensive technology of the trellis-dwarf garden, pruning fruit growers often pursue completely opposite goals. With a density of more than two to three thousand plants per hectare, and even more so with a density of 4 - 5 thousand, there is no need to create a fruit wall - it is created at the time of laying the garden. And here the main task of pruning is to limit the growth activity of trees and transfer all branches to fruiting. The second task of pruning is to create a light regime in the crown that ensures good coloring of the fruits, which increases their commercial qualities, and only after receiving three to four crops, with the help of pruning, they begin to partially replace the fruit wood that has already been fruiting for three years with a younger one. Pruning time is late spring. A lot of attention in such gardens is paid to summer pruning. To accelerate the laying of flower buds and the fastest fruiting in intensive gardens from the first year after planting, branches are bent to a horizontal or close position by tying them to a support, by hanging weights of various designs on them, breaking and twisting the main branches to limit their growth and giving a more horizontal arrangement, as well as banding the branches and the entire tree as a whole to enhance precocity.

In extensive gardens with a rare planting density of up to a thousand plants per hectare, we cannot afford to deflect the skeletal branches to a horizontal position during the formation of crowns. With such a slope, the branches quickly weaken the growth, which makes it difficult to create a fruit wall. In such orchards, the main branches of the crown should have angles of deviation from the trunk of 45 - 50 *, so that later, after the tree enters fruiting, these branches, having a normal angle of deformation, would not lose much growth activity, which ensures the commercial quality of the fruit.

We analyzed the cultivation technology of intensive and super-intensive orchards in order to understand how it combines growth activity, which is maintained even at high yields of about 50-70 and even 100 tons per hectare, dwarf and super-dwarf rootstocks most restrain growth activity, high planting density up to 5 and more than a thousand plants per hectare with the highest early fruiting - up to 20 - 30 tons of fruits per hectare already in the second, third year of planting the orchard and abundant fruiting with excellent fruit quality in subsequent years. Having considered the entire technology, we systematized all the factors by dividing them into two main areas:

Intensive industrial garden of Red Chief variety.

1. What keeps growth activity in these gardens? Plant youth. Strong root system of seedlings due to strong rootstock, deep planting and high budding. A strong one-year-old seedling at least 1.5 m high with lateral branches and fruit buds laid still in the nursery. Strictly vertical position of the plant, which is achieved by tying them to the post, so that the seedling, and later the tree, constantly has a vertical position. Tie branches to stakes and wire so that during harvest the branches do not deviate below the horizontal line and do not lose growth activity. Yield rationing, which prevents overloading of the branches and the entire tree as a whole, especially in the first years of fruiting. Competent pruning allows you to replace fruit-bearing branches older than three to four years with new, younger branches. Plant protection that reliably protects the leaf apparatus and fruits from pests and diseases, especially from scab. Irrigation is mainly drip. Top dressing is usually small doses of nitrogen fertilizers, often along with watering.

2. What ensures high precocity in intensive orchards? High planting density from 3 to 10 thousand plants per hectare. Weak dwarf and super dwarf rootstocks with budding at a height of 15-20 cm to enhance dwarfism. Early-growing varieties laying fruit buds on annual shoots. The use of strong developed seedlings with fruit buds planted in the nursery. Carrying out minimal pruning in time - late spring and summer, aimed at maintaining the dimensions of the crowns, replacing the fruit-bearing branches and lightening the crown to improve the color of the fruits, but not excessively increasing their growth activity. Pulling the main branches to a horizontal position to speed up the laying of fruit buds. Breaks of the main young branches, twisting, banding, both branches and the tree as a whole, are also used. The minimum feeding area and the creation of a fruit wall when planting. Row spacing and lack of treatments in a row, which does not stimulate growth activity. Minimum fertilizer. Twice annual application of herbicides, which does not contribute to increased growth. On some varieties, root pruning is used to stimulate the laying of generative formations. The central conductor, in the presence of a sufficient number of main branches, is not cut, so as not to stimulate growth activity.

An analysis of the above technology allows us to conclude that advanced gardeners have refuted the axiom that an apple orchard must have two periods: a growth period (5-7 years) and a fruiting period. This alignment of modern gardeners does not suit. The main task that they set today is the fastest possible return of capital invested in the creation of gardens. Gardeners now set the goal of obtaining marketable crops in the year of planting a garden, and this is already a reality. As a result, the apple tree, in terms of precocity, becomes on a par with such, at first glance, crops unsurpassed in precocity, such as strawberries and currants.

The scientific development of optimal landing schemes was started in our country in the late fifties or more than 40 years ago. Numerous experiments were laid. Small crowns have been developed. Among them is the Russian fusiform crown for plantings on seed and medium-sized rootstocks with a planting density of 700-800 trees per hectare. The semi-flat formation for the same gardens has found wide application in the gardens of the leading horticultural farms of the country. In Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Crimea, the designs of intensive gardens on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks were worked out. But for a number of social and economic reasons, all these developments were not in demand in production, which ultimately led the pioneers in this most important issue to a technological lag behind gardeners in Western Europe, and in other countries as well.

Intensive trellis-dwarf apple orchard of the Gala Mast variety on the rootstock M9

In developed countries, a massive transition to new fast-growing and highly productive types of orchards began about 15 years ago. In Eastern European countries, 5-7 years later. In Russia, active practical work in this direction began five years ago, in 1994. An initial analysis of the possibility of transferring horticulture in Russia to intensive technologies showed that in our country there are practically no intensive gardens where these technologies could be used. Analyzing the possibilities of laying new gardens, we faced the problem of planting material, which turned out to be extremely scarce in Russia, and the initial parameters of which, to put it mildly, did not meet the requirements. The main disadvantages of planting material, in our opinion, were the following. The vast majority of seedlings on clonal rootstocks were grown on medium-sized rootstocks - in the south of MM-106, in central Russia 54-118. Due to the reduced requirements for planting material standards, including rootstock, and the lack of irrigation in a number of nurseries against the backdrop of a weak plant protection system, as well as the transfer of nurseries to grow rootstocks through a system of green cuttings, all this led to a sharp decrease in the quality of planting material grown on clonal rootstocks.

But there was a way to grow planting material of the required quality by ourselves. But this path was also a dead end, because in Russia, it was impossible to buy cuttings of dwarf rootstocks for the first field of the nursery. Theoretically, Russia had everything - and a wide selection of dwarf, semi-dwarf and even super-dwarf rootstocks, but in practice it was impossible to purchase a batch of layering, even the smallest one. And we still have one real and most promising, in our opinion, path - the creation of a system of layering mother liquors of clonal rootstocks in all zones of Russia, so that later, when switching to new highly productive and, at the same time, dense orchards, gardeners have the opportunity to choose both according to the assortment , and quality in a variety of rootstock combinations for selected types of intensive orchards.

Over the years, a good material and technical base has already been created for the development and implementation of this new direction. According to the new technology, successfully tested and refined by us in the natural and climatic conditions of central Russia, large layering mother liquors of clonal rootstocks are laid and continue to be laid. Since 1997, they have been producing high-quality cuttings with a multi-storey root system and with parameters corresponding to the technology for growing high-quality planting material for intensive gardens, mother liquors in the agricultural complex "Agronom" in the Lipetsk region, in the agricultural firm "Giant Garden" in the Krasnodar Territory. Since 1999, layering mother liquors have been put into operation in the Sady Pridonya agricultural company in the Volgograd region, in the Integration company in the Belgorod region, in OPH Tsentralnoye JSC in the Krasnodar Territory, in the Oboyansky agricultural complex in the Kursk region, in Krona-2 JSC in the Rostov region areas. Next in line are the Zherdevsky nursery in the Tambov region, the Starooskolsky agricultural complex in the Belgorod region, and the Saburovskie Sady agricultural production complex in the Tambov region.

Our institute is successfully conducting research on developing technologies for growing high-quality planting material in the nursery. In this regard, we have introduced internal institute standards for these seedlings, and all research is aimed at developing agricultural practices that make it possible to obtain such parameters. The latest technologies for growing high-quality seedlings in a nursery in the conditions of central Russia, such as KNIP-BOM and ZK, are being tested. A lot of work is being done on the selection of variety-rootstock combinations for new types of orchards according to zoned and promising varieties.

In parallel with the work on the creation of a system of layering queen cells for clonal rootstocks and the development of technologies for growing high-quality planting material in nurseries, the Institute is laying orchards, the cultivation of which is carried out according to the new technology. In addition to the institute, we have established such gardens in the Rostov region (JSC Krona-2), in the Belgorod region (SHK Starooskolskoye), in the Lipetsk region (SHK Agronom), in the Krasnodar Territory. Since 1999, the propaganda of the new apple production system in Russia has been based on showing real results obtained in nurseries, nurseries and orchards cultivated using new technologies, not only in scientific institutions, but above all in production conditions. The experience gained by scientific research and educational institutions, and the new research results obtained, indicate great opportunities for intensifying horticulture in rather extreme natural and difficult economic conditions in central and southern Russia. To do this, we have everything necessary in the country - both highly winter-hardy, early-growing domestic and foreign low-growing rootstocks that ensure high early-growing orchards, and productive, high-value early-growing varieties, and mostly proven technologies for obtaining high-quality cuttings and seedlings, and technologies for cultivating new gardens.

At present, in the conditions of an open market, it becomes quite clear that in the face of fierce competition with fruit producers in European countries, the transition of domestic horticulture to intensive and super-intensive types of orchards is economically inevitable. The answer to the question depends on this - to be or not to be domestic gardening. This transition should ensure the necessary competitiveness of the industry in the global and domestic markets due to the high early maturity and productivity of orchards, the high quality of fruits and the reduction in their cost.

President of the Association of Gardeners of Russia (APPYAPM), Doctor of Agricultural Sciences

Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, head. Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture MichGAU

Modern management systems for intensive apple orchards

The main task facing horticulture in Russia at the present stage of its development is to further improve the quality of fruits, the early maturity and productivity of plantings while reducing the cost of labor and funds per unit of output. This task has always faced gardeners around the world. But today in Russia, in the conditions of an emerging market, the fate of the industry depends on its solution.

For the development of domestic horticulture, first of all, it is necessary to intensify the transition of specialized horticultural farms to high-intensity types of orchards, which are distinguished by a fast return on investment in their creation (Table 1).

Table 1

Yield growth in orchards of various types and payback periods of funds invested in their creation (calculated data)

Fruiting of 5-year-old trees of Sinap Orlovsky on rootstock 54-118 with the formation of a modified slender spindle

Wider and bolder use in them of early-growing and highly productive varieties and the most valuable clonal rootstocks. There is a clear pattern of reduction in intensive plantings of various types of unproductive period and payback period of invested funds with a significant increase in their productivity.

A comparative assessment of existing and intensive orchards shows that their main economic indicators differ significantly. And the economic attractiveness of intensive plantations is obvious (Table 2).

table 2

The main economic indicators of intensive orchards in comparison with those existing in central Russia

The leading role in improving the economic efficiency of horticulture belongs to intensive technologies, which, based on the maximum mechanization of production processes, are designed to ensure the most complete realization of the high productivity potential of modern intensive gardens without reducing their environmental sustainability in specific natural and climatic conditions of their growth. Success in this business will be achieved mainly due to the ever wider mastering of progressive technologies for their creation and cultivation.

In the early 90s, the staff of our institute carried out a serious analysis of the development of world and domestic horticulture and determined the main direction of intensifying the industry by laying high-density orchards on low-growing clonal rootstocks, which was perceived ambiguously by many of our colleagues. However, the institute's technologists began to develop technologies for creating and cultivating intensive, highly profitable apple orchards on clonal rootstocks.

Based on the results of many years of work, the main modern designs of intensive orchards, their features and biometric parameters have been identified, more than 200 variety-rootstock combinations have been studied and are in the process of being studied.

As a result of many years of research, three types of intensive apple tree plantations were identified. The main elements of their design have been worked out: this is the placement density and planting pattern in connection with the strength of the growth of rootstocks and the shape of the crowns, as well as the need for supporting structures and irrigation systems (Table 3).

Table 3

The main components of different types of intensive apple orchards

The boundaries in this division are rather conditional, because The vigor of the trees can also be regulated by the vigor of the variety and the height of budding.

For the successful development of intensive technologies for cultivating low-growing apple plantations, it is necessary to take into account the following factors for effective horticulture.

These are, first of all, environmental factors:

• location of production in optimal environmental conditions. First of all, it is the climate, soils, topography. We felt the significance of this in the winter of 2005-06.
• choice of variety - environmentally sustainable for the area, high-margin, early-growing, productive, with complex disease resistance and technological crown;
• choice of rootstock - low-growing, environmentally sustainable for the area, compatible with the main varieties;

The following agrotechnological factors are of great importance:

• this is the quality of planting material - on clonal stocks, healthy, high-quality with the specified parameters;
• layout - compacted, 5-3 × 3-0.5 m;
• crown formation - compact semi-flat and fusiform;
• pruning system and green operations - regulating growth and fruiting;
• type of supporting structures - reinforced concrete poles, iron and asbestos pipes;
• plant protection system - integrated;
• soil maintenance system - turfing of row spacings, herbicide fallow in a row;
• irrigation - drip;
• mineral nutrition - with the use of microelements according to the phases of plant development;
• formation of fruit quality, pre-harvest treatments;
• optimal means of mechanization;

and I would especially like to emphasize

• a high level of agricultural technology of cultivation, i.е. timeliness and quality of implementation of all agricultural practices.

Thus, when optimizing the factors listed above, intensive orchards on low-growing clonal rootstocks provide:

• high stable productivity of plantations up to 30-50 tons per 1 ha;
• fruit quality - up to 90-95% of high-quality products;
• accelerated entry of orchards into fruiting for 2-3 years after planting;
• the onset of industrial fruiting for 3-4 years;
• the possibility of concentration of funds for effective protection against pests, diseases, hail, frost and other negative factors;
• increasing labor productivity in the garden for labor-intensive types of work (pruning, harvesting, etc.);
• low-cost liquidation of fruit-bearing plantations;
• high level of profitability and cost recovery;
• such types of orchards make it possible to periodically change the assortment after 15-17 years.

The employees of our institute made a great contribution to the development of basic agricultural practices that affect the precocity, productivity and quality of fruits.

1. In our zone, after many years of study, the following varieties have been distinguished in terms of precocity, productivity, fruit quality: Zhigulevskoye, Lobo, Orlik, Martovskoye, Sinap Orlovsky, Rossoshanskoye striped, from the newly introduced variety Ligol. These varieties in combination with rootstocks 62-396 (MichGAU selection) and R 60 (Polish selection) provide high productivity. In the third year after planting, a crop of 15-30 tons per 1 ha was obtained, and in the 6th year, some options gave up to 50-60 tons per 1 ha.

2. The influence of the height of budding and the quality of seedlings on the productivity and growth processes of the main variety-rootstock combinations was determined.

3. The features of the production process in intensive plantations of apple trees have been studied and methods are being developed to increase the resistance of plants to stress factors.

4. Systems for the formation of tree crowns in high-density intensive orchards have been worked out.

5. Support structures used in intensive gardens have been studied and evaluated for their suitability, stability and durability.

6. Plant protection systems have been developed and improved, taking into account the composition of harmful objects and the design features of plantings.

7. Ways of optimizing mineral nutrition in plantations of intensive type with the complex use of macro- and microfertilizers (boron, calcium, zinc, iron) are outlined.

8. A system for the use of herbicides in intensive gardens has been developed.

All this contributes to obtaining products of the highest quality.

But the effective management of intensive gardens, especially in the first years of operation, is not possible without the use of planting material with the parameters necessary for each type of garden. In this regard, we have developed a technology for the production of cuttings in a horizontal mother liquor of apple clonal rootstocks using an organic substrate and a modern technology for obtaining high-quality seedlings with specified parameters.

On the initiative and under the methodological guidance of the employees of VNIIS them. Michurin, intensive queen cells, nurseries and orchards were established in horticultural farms in different regions.

It should be clarified that the reconstruction of plantings is a long period. The term for the transition of one farm to intensive orchards is:

• 2-3 years are spent on laying and cultivating the mother liquor to obtain products;
• 3 years are spent on growing seedlings in the nursery;
• 3-4 years is the operation of the garden until the first commercial crops are obtained.

Total 8-10 years. At the same time, a clear pattern can be traced: the more funds are invested in planting a garden, the faster they pay off and the more efficient production is.

Intensive orchard with shaping Modified slender spindle

Economic efficiency

In conclusion, it must be emphasized that intensive apple orchards on clonal rootstocks are the future of Russian horticulture. They allow you to get a high stable yield of quality fruits and provide a quick return on investment in their creation.

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11.05.2017

Grow intensive, i.e. a highly productive, low-stemmed and early-growing garden is quite within the power of even novice amateur gardeners, if they are familiar with the basics of gardening. The beginning of the fruiting of horticultural crops depends on the quality of the planting material, as well as some details in the technology of their cultivation. First of all, as a scion, cuttings selected on trees of high-yielding and early-growing zoned varieties should be used. The rootstock is obtained from seedlings grown in a direct way. After winter vaccination, annual seedlings 1.0 - 1.5 m high are planted in the garden. Thanks to such actions, it is possible to minimize injury to the root system of trees during their digging and replanting, which will favorably affect their further development and the beginning of fruiting.

At least 8 - 10 kg / m 2 are brought under the plantation of the garden plothumus, and directly when planting trees, in each planting hole - 15 - 20 kg of soil mixture from humus and a fertile soil ball. This method will allow you to do without the systematic feeding of trees during the first 3-4 years.

The formation of a low trunk (25 - 30 cm) is another trick that helps to bring the beginning of the productive period of crops closer. As practice shows, in trees with a flat crown shape, a low trunk (and even its complete absence) does not limit the possibility of processing and caring for the trunk circle and row spacing, but allows you to significantly reduce the height of the tree and concentrate the crop in the central part of the crown.

Crown formation begins in early spring, cutting seedlings immediately after planting at a height of 70 - 80 cm from the ground. When the buds swell, they are removed on the future stem to a height of 15–30 cm. In the spring of the next year, all shoots formed from the preserved buds located above the stem are bent in the direction of the row (future fruit wall) at an angle of 75–80 ° to the trunk and shortened by a third (upper) or a quarter (lower). This technique enhances the branching of the future semi-skeletal branch. The lower bent branches are attached with twine to pegs driven into the ground in the plane of the row, and the upper ones to the branches located below. In autumn or next spring, the pegs are removed, and all the upper branches are subsequently attached to the lignified lower ones.

Depending on the strength of growth and branching, the continuation shoot (trunk, conductor) is shortened by 25–40 cm. In this case, one should be guided by the consideration that a highly cut conductor will lead to the formation of “windows” in the crown, gaps that will increase plant growth and decrease in its productivity. As soon as the buds swell (after 10-15 days), they are removed on the upper surface along the entire length of future semi-skeletal branches to avoid the formation of tops. It will also contribute to the further development of lateral buds, forming horizontal shoots (and later branches with numerous fruit formations) located parallel to the ground surface.

The same crown formation technology is followed in subsequent years. By the age of five, six, the trees will already be fully formed. And the central conductor during the last pruning at this age is removed by transferring to a weaker horizontal branch.

The whole system of agro-activities of the early-growing garden is aimed at accelerating the fruiting of trees and maximizing the growth of their leaf surface. In the case of the appearance of fruits in one- or two-year-old plants, they are not cut off in the spring, but are allowed to fully ripen. If a tree at the age of five or six blooms profusely and gives high yields, it is necessary to prune the crown in order to thin it out and create conditions for better lighting of the plant. Simultaneously with thinning, semi-skeletal branches are shortened (by transferring to a weak shoot), which by this moment already touch the branches on a neighboring tree, and strong apical ones are removed. If tops form on the central conductor or at the base of the semi-skeletal branches, they are not removed, but bent and shortened by a third (quarter) to turn them into fruit branches.

When creating a garden of biennial or annual (with a crown) plants with a high trunk (80 - 100 cm), it is recommended to immediately reduce it to 25 - 30 cm. cm, as in the case of unformed annual seedlings. All subsequent operations are similar: removal of the kidneys on the future stem up to a height of 15–30 cm, bending in a row and fixing the skeletal branches by tying them to pegs.

During the first two years, the trees are watered at the rate of 5 - 10 buckets per plant. In the year of planting, at least 2 - 3 are carried out, and the next - 1 - 2 waterings. Row spacings can be sown with perennial grasses the very next year after planting, but in this case the trees require regular watering at least twice a month using 4 to 6 buckets of water per seedling. It is also desirable to water the grass in the aisles.

In connection with the accelerated fruiting and high rates of increase in productivity, in the fifth - sixth year of crop growth, the doses of mineral fertilizers are increased by 1.5 - 2 times compared to the usual norms. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied twice - three times per season (the first time - during the early spring closing of moisture, the last - in mid-June), potash and phosphorus - in uniform doses in June - August and immediately after harvesting. All mineral fertilizers are applied superficially, and then embedded in the soil between rows in the process of loosening or digging.

An intensive orchard grown according to the above technology from early-growing, low-stemmed, flat-crowned trees differs from traditional fruit plantings in earlier dates for the onset of fruiting and fruit ripening, high efficiency and crop quality.

Apple orchard intensive home business on apples.

Growing apples can become your family business, an intensive technology apple orchard can yield more than 5 tons from 10 acres of the orchard. The demand for imported apples is gradually falling, the consumer increasingly prefers organic fruits of domestic producers. Therefore, aspiring entrepreneurs should also consider the idea of ​​an apple growing business.

Of course, the gardener's profit is highly dependent on weather conditions, but with the use of modern technology, the risk of planting and crop loss can be significantly reduced.

How to grow apple trees.

There are several ways to grow apple trees:

Extensive way- apple tree seedlings are grown on seed rootstocks, in fact, this is the usual cultivation of fruit trees in the garden.

The extensive method is used by most gardeners, as it does not require special tree care.

The main disadvantage of this method is late fruiting, the active phase of fruiting apple trees begins no earlier than 7-8 years after planting the seedlings.

Intensive way- growing tall varieties on dwarf rootstocks with crown pruning like a spindle or super spindle.

The method allows to significantly increase the density of tree planting while maintaining a high yield of apple trees. The disadvantage of this method is the low frost resistance of the root system of dwarf rootstocks.

Intensive method on semi-dwarf(mid-sized) rootstocks.

Growing apple trees on medium-sized rootstocks also allows you to increase the density of planting trees in the garden, medium-sized rootstocks are more resistant to freezing than dwarf ones.

Let us dwell in more detail on the intensive method of growing apple trees.

For laying an intensive garden, apple seedlings on dwarf rootstocks are used according to the type M-9 or semi-dwarf MM-106.

The most popular varieties of tall apple trees grown on dwarf rootstocks are Champion, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Gloucester, Idared, Florina, Eliza, Rosavka, Pinova.

Apple intensive garden.

The laying of an intensive garden begins with a soil analysis, based on the analysis, the required amount of mineral and organic fertilizers is calculated. On average, for every 10 acres of a garden, at least 5 tons of humus or compost will need to be added.

Pit holes 0.6 x 0.6 m are dug for planting seedlings, fertilizers are applied, after planting the seedlings are immediately cut to a height of 0.8 - 0.9 m.

Since the root system of dwarf rootstocks is located in the upper layers of the soil, frequent watering will be required, the best option is drip irrigation.

The drip irrigation system allows you to rationally use water, saving water increases by 5 times compared to conventional irrigation.

As the seedlings grow, pruning and crown formation are required so that the crowns do not obscure neighboring apple trees when the apple trees are tightly planted; a spindle-shaped crown is used.

With proper care for an intensive garden, already 3 years after planting seedlings, you can get the first harvest of apples.

The business of growing apples using intensive technology is successfully used in countries such as Holland, Poland, Turkey, in our country, extensive orchards make up the majority. With the use of intensive technology, you can significantly increase the yield of the garden and reduce the risk of crop loss during drought and spring frosts.