IMPORTANT AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON PRODUCTION OF NURSERY STOCK

Apple-Leafed Cotoneaster

Before planting fruit trees and developing a fruit orchard, the first task to do is the soil analysis. Without doing a soil analysis, neither a young plant nor a fruit orchard guarantees productive results. According to the results of a soil analysis, right saplings or young tree varieties are selected and planted appropriately. While developing a fruit orchard, planting side is also important. Where possible, the best planting side is the the Southern side. If younger trees are planted on the Southern side, they will be less affected from the frost or freezing gold, decreasing the rate of impairment related with cold weather when compared with other planting sides.

Lime Tree – Shaped with Pruning

Some people say that “a young plant should be planted on the same side where it is firstly uprooted.” This saying is not even a matter of discussion. The important thing is not the side on which the plant is rooted but the side where the fruit orchard will be developed, which is certainly the Southern side. Before planting young trees, the first task is to dig their holes. The topsoil taken out of the holes hollowed 75 cm wide and 75 cm in depth is put aside and the subsoil is set way on another side. The holes are hollowed at least a month before planting, letting the soil have air and fertilizer interpenetration. Before planting a young tree, damaged and injured or unbalanced roots should be cut and cleaned by a root trimmer while removing it from the field where it has grow, and thereby undesired branches longer than suitable size should be cleaned up and made ready for planting. This is called “Root Pruning”. Next task is to plunge the roots into the slurry which is made by putting some loam soil, water and burnt farm manure into a cub and mixing them together. The roots of sapling layered in this slurry will increase its chance to stick to soil well and make the tree more exuberant. Then, for poling, a dibbler in a suitable size is inserted into the hole and the topsoil already taken out is put on the lowest part of the hole – the graft should be set 5 cm above the soil – while the roots of sapling is covered with the subsoil which was set aside while digging the holes. The reason why the topsoil is put under the roots of sapling is the efficiency of vital nutrients from this layer; the roots obtain most of its highest concentration of organic matter from the topsoil and foster the sapling effectively. With all the operations mentioned above, we are supposed to finish our planting process. But also, just before the task of poling, we should give lifeline water to our newly planted seedling in a small amount. Initially, the first water is applied to our plant, and one or two days later the soil will have dipped well and then we can tether it to the dibbler headed back. If we do poling before giving the first water, the soil will dip after watering and the seedling will be hanging on the dibbler, causing it not to stick to soil well since the roots do not contact with it. For this reason, we should consider this important point while planting our young trees. Furthermore, if do not use a dibbler, the sapling planted will continuously dangle with the wind and storm; as a result, steady contact with soil can not be maintained and growing will be blocked. Therefore, let’s not forget to use a dibbler and maintain a persistent protection against both windy and stormy weather, securing a safer condition against fragility.

Newly Pruned and Cleaned Grapefruit Tree

The correct time to plant a sapling starts just after the tree leaves have fallen off, which is likely to be the end of November. Young trees should be planted before buds begin to swell. But the best months to plant the saplings are December and January for the Marmara Region. The seedlings planted in these months take plentiful amount of rainfall and snow, allowing the soil to dip down fairly and the roots to stick more and thereby depositing the water of rain and snow, they hold themselves in readiness for the spring season. Moreover, the roots injured at pruning relive quickly and stick to soil easily. For this reason, January and February are the best months for sticking and rooting of seedlings. To me, the day of Arbor Festival, the 25^th of March, is a suitable date for naked root saplings to be planted in Eastern Anatolia Region but for tubaceous saplings and those in Marmara Region.

The reason behind is that the weather gets warmer around this date and the level of moisture in the soil decreases. In addition to this, before the plant roots into the soil the temperature also increases more and more and the plant sun-soaked will not be able to feed itself, losing its lifeline water within time. Under these circumstances, a young plant not only has to struggle with rooting into the soil but also deal with the increasing temperature and being lack of water. As a result of this, the level of rooting decreases almost in half; all efforts we showed and all the money we spent go down the pan and be in the dumps, which is why we shouldn’t delay planting later than the months December and January if our plants are not in a pot or tubaceous saplings and if we really would like to see positive and fruitful results. As already mentioned above, the graft should be set 5 cm above the soil. If the part grafted is left in the soil, the tree can’t save its health and run dry eventually.  About the same issue, there is a saying of Italian people: “The roots of trees should hear the bell sounds of sheep passing by the road.” To remember not to plant saplings very deep, this saying is a nice and witty statement to bear in mind. While planting a seedling, we certainly have to give lifeline water first although the weather is heavily rainy. No matter how much it rains, it can’t sap the soil as much as the first water we give, causing the roots of saplings not to stick to the soil. So, we should certainly give the plant its first water. The operations made as mentioned above are very good examples of the first things to do. Now and later on, we have the right to receive a recompense for our efforts. Otherwise, it would never be possible to see the results expected.

Best Regards,

İbrahim Tınaztepe