Whitewashing is an important agricultural technique in the cultivation of fruit trees. Trees are not whitened for the sake of beauty, but to protect against a whole range of negative factors. Moreover, good gardeners can not do one whitewash - during the year, apple trees have to be whitened several times.
Why is whitewashing needed?
The bark protects the tree from a variety of external influences. But there are things against which she is powerless. The task of whitewashing is to strengthen the protective properties of the bark and, preventing its damage, save the tree from negative factors.
Whitewashing protects the apple tree from:
- sudden temperature changes - because of them cracks appear on the trunk;
- sunburn - this is especially important when there is no foliage, and the tree is not able to protect itself from the scorching sun;
- burning frosts;
- strong winds;
- rodents and pests, ticks, moths, flower beetle, leafworms, aphids, goldfinches.
The sun and frost make the bark rough, cause it to crack and peel. In a young tree, the bark is smooth, in an adult, there are almost always cracks on the trunk - infections and pests penetrate into them. As a result, the tree weakens, and sometimes it dies.
Gardeners whitewash fruit tree trunks not for decorative purposes - although this factor is present, but for the purpose of protecting them.
Features and timing
Any garden owner knows that it's time to whiten trees in spring. And only experienced gardeners know that in a year the trees are whitewashed three times - in autumn, spring and summer. Features and timing of whitewashing - in the table.
Table - Dates and goals for whitewashing apple trees in different seasons
Season | Month | purpose | Note |
Fall | October or November | Protection from the February sun - it is especially active. Under the influence of sunlight, the trunk heats up to +9 ° С - this provokes sap flow. The juice freezes and the bark cracks. | The main whitewash on which the health and life of a tree depends. |
Spring | The end of February and the beginning of March (if autumn whitewashing was carried out, then later - in March-April) | Protection against insects, fungus, other infections. | This is the second most important whitewash, it is carried out as soon as the temperature allows. |
Summer | June July | Updating of protective functions, protection against high temperatures. | Summer whitewashing is especially important if in spring it was carried out with a weak solution. |
Experienced gardeners give advice on when to whitewash:
- do not whiten trees before the rainy season;
- September is too early a month for whitewashing; trees need to be whitewashed a couple of weeks before frosts.
At what age do whitewashing begin?
Whitewashing is necessary for both adult apple trees and young seedlings. The difference in the concentration of lime - for young animals, it is half as much as for a large tree. Some trees can be whitened from 3 years of age, others from 7-8 years. It is determined whether the tree has grown to a complete whitewash, along the trunk - if characteristic plates and cracks appear on the smooth bark of the tree, it can be whitened.
Preparing an apple tree for whitewashing
Before you take up a brush and a bucket of lime, you need to properly prepare the trees for whitewashing. Preparation consists of three stages, the fourth - directly applying the coloring composition.
Watch the video on how to prepare an apple tree for whitewashing:
Barrel cleaning
The trunk needs to be freed from large branches. Optimal conditions for cleaning - increased air humidity. The trunk is cleaned of lichens, growths, exfoliating bark. Cleaning is carried out with a wooden spatula. All litter is collected and burned - to prevent the spread of infection and pests hiding in the bark. The best time to clean is after rain.
When cleaning, it is not recommended to use a saw, metal brushes, scrapers and washcloths.
Wound disinfection
It is carried out in dry weather. Moreover, the next three days should also be fine - otherwise the expected effect will not be. There are 3 types of disinfection:
- Capillary treatment. The barrel is sprayed with a mixture of copper sulfate and Bordeaux fluid - from a spray bottle.
- Ash and soap treatment. A solution of ash and laundry soap is applied to the trunk with a rag. The solution is prepared in hot water. Laundry soap (50 g) and ash (3 kg) are dissolved in it.
- Spraying. It is carried out with a saturated ash solution.
You can not use a solution of copper / iron vitriol every year, since copper and iron are able to accumulate in the crust and soil. High concentrations of these elements pose a threat to the tree - it has reduced immunity, the tree is sick and dries up.
When disinfecting the barrel, observe safety precautions - they work with gloves and a respirator.
Putty wounds
After cleaning, there are recesses on the barrel, which are covered with putty, paste or clay mash. To prepare a talker, they take clean clay (200 g), manure (100 g) and straw dust. Dilute the components with water to a sour cream consistency. This blabber smears all damage on the tree trunk. You can buy ready-made putty in the store - for example, RunNet pasta.
Processing Compounds
For whitewashing, you can use lime solutions, prepared independently, or purchased in finished form. For staining the trunk using:
- Mortar - The cheapest and most popular option. Minus - a low degree of protection. Add manure, clay or glue. Two rains are enough for the whitewash to come off the trunk.
- Paint (water-based or acrylic). Usually, antifungal drugs are introduced into it, creating a protective film around the trunk. The disadvantage is that the paint does not breathe. Only adult trees are whitened with paint.
There are many compounds used for whitewashing, their main characteristic is the presence of three main components:
- white coloring matter;
- viscous adhesive component;
- disinfectants.
Consider what substances are used to whitewash apple trees, and what compositions are prepared on their basis.
In the next video, the gardener will tell you how to color the trunk of an apple tree:
Pure Lime
Lime is the most popular substance for whitewashing trees. It is easy to breed, it is not toxic, it is cheap. Trees are whitewashed with slaked lime, it is also called fluff. Such lime is sold in the form of a paste or powder. For breeding pushonki you need nothing but cold water.
Clay
To make lime better stick to the trunk, clay is added to it. It is impractical to whitewash a tree with pure lime; without viscous substances, it is quickly washed off by rains. Clay is one of the available viscous substances that are used for the preparation of calcareous compounds.
Clay not only helps to fix whitewash on the trunk, but also has good thermal insulation properties. The clay composition protects the trees from overheating and hypothermia, as well as from the effects of winds. An important plus of clay - it does not close the pores and does not interfere with “breathing”.
Mullein
Mullein or slurry is a natural organic fertilizer. It is used not only to increase soil nutrition, but also for whitewashing trees. Thanks to this ingredient, whitewashing becomes more sticky, and is qualitatively fixed on the bark. In addition, mullein is a source of trace elements that feed the tree.
Paint
Instead of lime, it is permissible to use paint:
- Water emulsion. It protects the tree trunk like lime - from the sun and frost. The paint lasts longer than the mortar, so the number of whitewashes is reduced.
- Acrylic The advantage of painting with paint is that you do not need to prepare a solution, just open the jar and start painting.
Paints let air through, but retain water in the crust - do not allow it to evaporate. The main drawback of the paint is its unnaturalness, it is at least safe, but still “chemistry”. The second minus is its cost, painting the trees with paint is more expensive than lime.
Standard Whitewash Composition
Standard whitewash is prepared from three ingredients:
- quicklime - 2.5 kg;
- water - 10 l (bucket);
- clay - 1 kg.
The main function of the standard composition is to destroy insects and protect the trunk of the apple tree from harmful effects. Lime is taken about twice as much as clay. Order of preparation:
- Extinguish lime with water. To prepare the lime dough, 1-1.5 parts of water are taken for 1 part of lime, and 3 parts of water for lime milk.
- Clay is added to the cooled solution and the mixture is thoroughly mixed - it should have a sour cream consistency. A thicker solution will create a thicker layer that will not be washed off by the first rain.
- Clay can be replaced by glue - casein or wood.
When working with lime, observe safety measures and accuracy - when it interacts with water, the quenching temperature reaches 150 ° C.
Burn protection
This composition creates a shiny layer on the trunk that reflects sunlight well. The composition is prepared from:
- lime - “fluff” - 300 g;
- water - 2 l;
- PVA glue - 2 tbsp. l
Protection against rodents, hares, ants and fungi
This is a universal composition, destroying pests, it serves as an effective prevention of rot. The composition is prepared from:
- PVA glue and PVA dispersion (1: 1) - 125-250 ml;
- water - 2 l;
- vitriol of iron / copper - 2 tbsp. l
Thanks to vitriol, the composition will protect the tree from diseases and fungi. And if you introduce “Knockdown” into the composition - a few drops, or a little Creole, then the composition will scare away hares, mice and other rodents. Such whitewashing destroys fungal spores and all ant eggs hidden under the bark.
The prepared solution is thoroughly mixed and left for half an hour. After re-mixing proceed to whitewashing.
Store samples
Shop whitewash is convenient because it does not require preparation. He opened the lid, took a brush, and you can immediately paint. Whitewashes sold in stores differ in composition. They are lime, acrylic, with the addition of clay, vitriol, silver, and other additives.
The most stable store whitewash is acrylic. More natural - lime-clay, allowing the cortex to breathe. But lime shop whitewash has serious drawbacks:
- the need for repeated application;
- fragility - easily washed off by rains.
Most store whitewash is applied with a brush. But it is much more convenient to use aerosols - the liquid released under pressure gets into the most inaccessible places without any efforts on the part of man.
Samples of store whitewash:
- Green square (PKF Palisad) - acrylic composition;
- Robin green (LLC Fasco) - silver biomask;
- Gardener (LLC Fasko) - lime whitewash with copper sulfate;
- Lime whitewash with blue vitriol (PKF August) and others.
After testing garden whitewash, it was concluded that the most resistant store compositions are acrylic. They make the surface snow-white, shiny, and qualitatively protect from the sun. After winter, the paint does not crack and does not wash off - if the tree is whitewashed in the fall, you can skip the spring whitewash.
Step-by-step instructions for whitewashing an apple tree
The main condition for whitewashing is dry weather. In order to make sense of the procedure, the lime mortar must dry thoroughly and fix on the trunk. The brush is selected, given the volume of the trunk - the older and thicker the apple tree, the wider the tool. The largest trees are easier to paint with a spray gun - thanks to it, the solution will fill all the troughs, evenly distributed over the surface.
The solution is applied with a layer of 2-3 mm. A thicker layer cracks and falls off from the bark.
The whitewashing order is the same at any time of the year. Step-by-step instruction:
- Prepare a working solution and leave it - let it brew for 2 hours. If whitewashing is to be done with finished paint, open the container.
- Wear a respirator, gloves and work clothing. The coloring liquid should not get on the skin.
- Mix the solution thoroughly - it should have a uniform consistency, without lumps.
- Remove the soil layer in the near-stem circle - 4-5 cm.
- Start whitening the tree at a distance of 1.5-2 m from the ground. When painting the barrel from different sides, move down evenly. Along the way, paint the skeletal branches - 20 cm from the junction with the trunk.
- Whiten the trunk below, deepening below the soil level by 4 cm.
- When the mortar dries, return the ground to the barrel circle.
Features whitewash old and young apple trees
When whitewashing, the age of the tree is taken into account - the choice of the coloring composition and its concentration depends on it. What you need to know when planning to whiten young or old trees:
- Young seedlings are not whitened at all, they are simply wrapped in burlap for the winter. A full, three-time whitewash is carried out when the apple tree begins to bear fruit.
- Paint can even be applied to young trees - they do not harm the bark.
- Young trees are not recommended to be bleached with lime - it can damage the delicate bark. You can whiten very young trees only with a gentle chalk solution - lime burns the tender young bark. For 10 l take 1 kg of chalk. For older trees, a calcareous compound with a reduced rate of lime is prepared - it is laid 2-2.5 times less than for a full grown tree.
- Often it is written in the literature that it is better not to whiten young trees - so that lime does not burn their bark. But experienced gardeners advise - even the youngest trees should be whitened, as the sun's rays can harm them even more. For young animals, it is recommended to use the chalk composition.
The composition of the solution for whitewashing the youngest seedlings:
- chalk - 300 g;
- water - 2 l;
- copper sulfate - 2 tbsp. l .;
- clerical glue - 200 g;
- carbophos or urea - 20-30 g;
- clay - 200 g.
Popular bugs
Many gardeners do not delve into whitewashing in particular. Once they see how this is done, they repeat the procedure from year to year, not even suspecting that they are doing something wrong. In order not to make mistakes, and not to waste your time and money, read the whitewashing rules in advance.
Typical mistakes gardeners when whitewashing apple trees and other garden trees:
- Too thick solution. Gardeners obviously think that the thicker the composition, the thicker the layer, and the better the protection. In fact, a thick layer negatively affects the development of the tree, in addition, it tends to crack. But the liquid composition is not good - it just flows down. You need to find a balance, and prepare the composition of the optimal consistency - similar to sour cream.
- Whitewashing on a bad day. You can not whiten trees if the street is wet. Even if you have already scheduled a whitewash day, reschedule it. At high humidity, the solution will dry poorly and drain down, and if it starts to rain, then all the work will go down the drain.
- Exceeding the rate of lime. If you shift the lime, the bark will be burned. Especially carefully you need to whiten young trees - for them the concentration of lime is less than for adult apple trees.
- Violation of terms. You can’t whiten trees when you want. In addition to the weather on a particular day, you need to consider the timing. Spring whitewash begins before the swelling of the kidneys, and autumn whitewash before the frost. If whitewashing is carried out in violation of the deadlines, it will not be of any use other than decorative.
- Annual use of solution with vitriol. The tree receives a lot of toxins, poorly developed.
Cleaning and whitewashing the trunk is an important event, the growth and development of the tree depends on the correctness and timeliness of which. Performing these simple and affordable agricultural practices 2-3 times a year, you will protect your garden from weather risks and other troubles.
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