If you are looking for the best way to start an apple farm, consider high-density apple production.
It takes patience for an apple farmer to enjoy the fruits of his hard work. This is because your apple tree won’t bear fruits the same year you planted it. But once it starts fruiting, it can do so for a long time.
So, if you indulge in high-density apple production, you will enjoy the harvest in double portions after the long wait.
In the blog post below, we have analyzed a guide on how to enhance high-density apple production. But before that, let us look at the importance of high-density apples.
Importance of Indulging in High-density Apple Production
Dense population Apple trees need 70 percent less fertilizer and 80 percent less pesticide treatment. They produce Fifty to seventy tons of apples per acre by the third year of planting, compared to 10 to 15 tons for traditional types.
It also increases productivity and enhances the fruit quality. In addition, it reduces labor costs, resulting in cheap production costs.
With high-density apple production, you will be able to use sunlight, fertilizers, water fungicides, and insecticides more efficiently
How to Enhance High-Density Apple Production
Plant your trees from 4 to 5 feet apart with this system. In large orchards that use this approach, tree space is often three feet long between trees.
Soil Requirements
Apples will do well in drained soil. You should avoid dirt with too much clay soil and compact subsoil.
In apple trees, wet soils cause poor circulation and a rise in crown rot. Rooting is typically shallow, and moist soils inhibit development, resulting in poor tree anchoring and a smaller area of topsoil from which it can collect nutrients.
Still, you can adjust the soil ph levels and fertility since they can induce excessive tree vigor.
Pruning
After fruiting begins, you only require little pruning; severe pruning will limit or postpone production while also causing unwanted shoot growth. Pruning might take place in both winter and summer. Excess winter trimming encourages overgrowth, resulting in tree overcrowding, shading out of lower fruitwood.
On the other hand, summer pruning diminishes vigor and controls excessive growth.
Training
High-density apple trees require a specific training approach than regular apple trees. Dwarf trees respond better to a centralized leader system than a vase shape with an open center. A few of the more valuable and vital systems are listed here.
The center leader is “self-contained.”
In some high-density orchards, systems are being tested. Before allowing the tree to bear large fruit, grow it to approximately its proper height. Defruiting your trees over the first three years may be necessary.
Initial and annual crops are critical for high-density apple tree success. Early cropping, which is promoted by the management of nitrogen, minimal pruning, and dwarfing rootstocks, aids in controlling unwanted crop growth. Crop failures caused by poor pollination, frost, or alternating bearing cause trees to develop quickly by disrupting the crop-growth balance, making it difficult to manage your orchards.
Apple Netting
You can enhance the growth of your high-density apple trees by installing fruit netting. This will improve the growth of your apple tree and help protect the apples from falling off due to hailstorms, strong winds, or heavy rain.
This fruit net is meshed which allows sunlight to still reach the fruit trees but keeps animal pests out. The netting also allows your trees to get plenty of fresh air, sunlight, and water.
The net is lightweight and is UV protected which prevents it from going brittle in the sun. The netting is easy to install and requires few accessories.
Watering
The ability to consistently increase production apples of the right size for the market is crucial to a grower’s financial success. Crop load and waterlogging are the two most vital biological and managerial elements influencing fruit size.
To consistently generate significant fruit crops, you must precisely control crop load and plant water status. Irrigation is critical in dry summers with tiny fruit sizes to avoid water shortages. Growers are expected to supply large-sized apples, according to the apple market.
Growers try to accomplish this fruit size by minimizing crop load using chemical thinners during spring, but if the weather is drier, they will not meet the target fruit size. You require chemical thinning and good watering to maintain fruit size correctly.
Fertilizing
An apple tree will require potassium and calcium feedings every year, but a soil test will reveal what other elements your tree will require. Your soil test result is the ideal way to know what kind of apple fertilizer you’ll need.
Know your limits while fertilizing your apple trees. Mature apple trees have extensive root systems that can stretch outwardly 1.5 times the size of the trunk and reach depths of up to 1 m. These family roots collect moisture and store additional nutrients for the following year, although smaller shallow roots in the top layer of the soil take the majority of minerals.
Apply apple fertilizer uniformly to the ground, starting a couple of feet away from the stem and spreading far beyond the drain pipe. The ideal time to fertilize your apple plant is in the fall after the foliage has fallen.
Support System for High-Density Apples
Support systems give tree anchoring, assist in tree health control, make orchard maintenance more manageable, and help enhance adequate light access to fruit and leaves. Build your support system to last the duration of the garden. In high-density apple farming, you have various support methods that you can deploy.
The vertical axis, narrow spindle, and numerous trellis systems are all covered here. You can use the commercial tree stakes to support your trees without wire. Also, when using individual tree stakes, use a 15 feet stake that is driven two feet into the earth, roughly 15 cm from the tree, soon after planting.
Conclusion
When it comes to growing high-density apple trees, there are techniques you cannot ignore. You need to strictly follow them to ensure the success of your apple project. The key elements include the soil, netting, and support system. You also need to take care of the planting techniques and timing.
Apples can be protected using high-quality netting. Please contact a netting provider vendor for more information and recommendations at info@eyouagro.com to assist you in finding the best netting supplies for apple orchards.
