Key points for pear tree management in December

In December, the pear trees enter a period of leaf drop and dormancy. At this time, the management focus of the pear orchard shifts to applying base fertilizer, shaping and pruning, and disease and pest control. Let’s learn together the key points of pear tree management techniques in December.

1. Apply basal fertilizer

The application of base fertilizer should be completed before November. The base fertilizer is mainly decomposed farmyard manure, with a small amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (mixed in a certain proportion). The fertilization method can be ring ditch, strip ditch or parallel ditch method. When applying fertilizer in the ditch, the ditch should be dug at the vertical projection of the outer edge of the crown, and the ditch width and depth should be maintained at 30 to 40 cm. The amount of base fertilizer applied needs to be determined based on factors such as tree age, soil texture and fertilizer source. Generally, for an orchard with an output of 2,000 kilograms per mu, 2,000 kilograms of high-quality, well-rotted farm organic fertilizer such as human and animal manure or 1,000 kilograms of commercial organic fertilizer should be applied per mu, mixed with 5 to 10 kilograms of superphosphate, and irrigation should be carried out in a timely manner.

2. Plastic Sculpting

1. Trunk shape

Young trees: Arrange the branches on the main trunk, remove the back branches and competing branches, maintain single-axis extension, and remove the branches that are too dense or too large and affect the balance of the tree, leaving a stake 0.5 meters from the base.

Fruit-bearing trees: Control the tree height within 3.5 meters through measures such as replacing weak branches and thinning out competing branches; for branch groups with room for development, remove back branches, large branches, and competing branches during winter pruning to maintain single-axis extension of the branch group; when the thickness of the base of the branch group exceeds 1/3 of the central trunk, it can be renewed by using new shoots near the central trunk or branches at the back of the branch group; for fruit-bearing branch groups that extend too long from the lower part of the crown, retain 1/2 to 1/3 of the length of the branch axis for retraction to renew and strengthen.

(II) Evacuation layered shape and open heart shape

Remove the upper and lower branches and overcrowded side branches on the main trunk and main branches, increase the angle between the side branches and the vertical line to more than 85 degrees by grasping, twisting and pulling branches, appropriately retract the main trunk and main branches, extend the head with weak branches and flat branches to lead, thereby inhibiting the growth of the main branches and controlling the increase in crown diameter; thin out the overcrowded and strong branches on the periphery to achieve the effect of "controlling the outside and nourishing the inside". For locations with space, pay attention to utilizing the developing branches or overgrown branches in the inner chamber. By pulling the branches, the growth rate can be slowed down and flower buds can be promoted. After fruiting, the branches can be shrunk back and cultivated into small and medium-sized branch groups to make up for the bare inner chamber and make the tree fuller. The principle of pruning small fruiting branch groups is to keep strong branches and buds to ensure good growth and improve fruit quality; for the fruit-bearing side shoots of short fruit branches, the weak ones should be removed and the strong ones should be kept to avoid overlapping and crossing; those that bear too many fruits, grow weakly, and cannot form well-developed flower buds must be pruned back in time; for single-axis extended branches, "flower-leveling shears" can be used to prevent excessive elongation; drooping branches should be pruned back to the strong buds to make them shorter and stronger.

3. Disease and Pest Control

1. Garden cleaning

Pick up fallen fruits in time, cut off diseased and insect-infested branches, dead branches, rotten fruits, diseased and insect-infested fruits, weeds, etc., clean them out of the garden, and burn or bury them in a concentrated area. After clearing the garden, spray the trees with 3 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture once.

2. Whitewash the tree trunk

Scrape off old bark, rough bark, peeling bark and diseased spots and burn them in a concentrated manner to eliminate potential pests and destroy the overwintering places of pests and diseases. The depth of bark scraping on the trunk and main branches of pear trees should be enough to expose the light brown cortex, and the cambium should not be scraped. It is best to avoid scraping the bark on rainy days. Before scraping, spray water on the scraped part of the trunk, spread plastic sheeting on the ground of the tree pit, and promptly bury or destroy the collected rough and peeled bark. After scraping the bark, whitewash the bifurcation of the trunk or main branches in time (preparation of whitewashing agent: 5kg quicklime , 0.25kg salt, 0.4kg lime sulfur crystal powder, and finally add 40kg water and stir evenly).

3. Deep plowing of the soil

Combined with the application of base fertilizer, deep plowing of the tree pit is carried out to a depth of about 30 cm to loosen the soil, and the overwintering pests in the soil are exposed to the ground to freeze to death or be pecked by birds. The overwintering pests such as pear borer, pear gall midge, fruit fly, etc. distributed in the soil of the tree pit are frozen to death.

The above are the key points of pear tree management techniques in December. You can refer to them based on the actual situation of your own pear orchard. I hope you will have a good yield next year.