Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
6.5.
Peach orchard in Georgia, United States.
and vice versa. The very large mango trees may be planted 12 m apart while smaller
peach trees and dwarf trees may be 2 m apart. In some cases, trees are planted in
rows where the trees are closer together in rows than the distance between rows. For
instance, trees may be 6 m apart in rows while the rows are 8 m apart. Variations on
the distance will depend on soil and other characteristics, as noted above, and on the
equipment to be used, tractors, sprayers, and the like. Today there is a trend to plant
trees closer together in rows with more space between rows.
During this initial growth of trees, they must be cultivated and protected. Weeding
and fertilization must be done as well as spraying or other activities to protect the young
trees from damage. In addition some trees will be “trained,” often by pruning, to
induced growth in a certain desired way, for example, to make them able to bear
without limbs breaking or to follow a certain form that will facilitate harvesting.
6.3.6 Long-Term Care
Individual trees or orchards must have enough water and be fertilized if there is to be a
continuing supply of fruit from the trees. If there is not sufficient rainfall to support the
trees throughout the year, irrigation will be needed. For those areas where rainfall is
sufficient for only part of the year or where there is insufficient rainfall, irrigation
water in quantities sufficient to meet tree needs must be available, and a method of
supplying it to trees at appropriate times must be in place. As with all irrigation,
care must be taken to prevent salt buildup in the soil. This is accomplished by
adding enough irrigation water to leach salts out of the soil profile (Chapter 9).
Many people think of trees as just growing wild without the need for human
interference. When growing fruit trees, collecting the produce results in removal of
nutrients from the soil, and these nutrients must be replaced for continued long-term,
sustainable, and satisfactory production. In addition nutrients removed by weeding
and pruning are replaced by fertilization that can be manure but is more often chemical
fertilizer. As with other crops the nutrients of greatest concern are nitrogen, phosphor-
ous, and potassium. The amount of fertilization needed will depend on the crop being
