Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
as the orchard crops mature and to the roots of alley crops and companion
plants.
In soils where available phosphorus is deficient, you can add phosphorus
directly to the planting hole before setting the trees into place. This is also
a good strategy on soils with pH below 6.0. For organic growers, add one or
two handfuls of steamed bonemeal to the bottom of the planting hole, cover
the bonemeal with 2 inches of soil, and set the trees in place. This can help
maintain the plants until the root systems become well established. Bone-
meal will not damage the plants. Never add materials that contain nitrogen,
potassium, or boron to the planting holes.
Planting and Training
Once the holes are dug and you have pruned off damaged roots and treated
the roots with beneficial mycorrhizae and radiobacter organisms, set the
roots or root balls gently into the planting holes at the same depth as or
slightly shallower than the plants grew in the nursery. Start backfilling the
planting hole in shallow layers, firming each layer with your hands, until the
hole is filled. Remember to backfill using only the material that came out
of the hole and avoid the temptation to tramp the soil into place with your
feet. The unfortunately popular “death stomp” can severely damage roots, es-
pecially bare roots. Once the hole is filled, you can gently walk around the
plants to firm the soil in place.
A common practice is to create shallow bowls of soil around newly
planted trees to catch rain and irrigation water. On soils that are well drained
to excessively well drained, the practice can be helpful. On heavier soils or
where drainage is otherwise poor, the tree basins can create saturated soils
around the roots and increase the chance of root disorders and diseases. Tree
basins are most likely to be used for very small plantings where the trees are
irrigated individually by hand. Where overhead or drip irrigation is used, tree
basins are likely to cause more trouble than good.
Once the trees have been set and the soil firmed around the roots, an
excellent strategy is to irrigate heavily to settle the soil around the roots.
