Spring-autumn time is the hottest time for gardeners. Throughout the growing season, life is raging on the plots - sowing, planting and replanting, watering and feeding, weeding and spraying - in general, the whole set of agrotechnical measures ultimately adds up to the harvest of vegetables and fruits, to a riot of flowers and greenery, providing material and mental comfort.
Let's talk about feeding and protecting our plantings from diseases and pests.
It would seem, well, what is difficult here - to feed from time to time, for example, with kemiro, and sprinkle with aphids from aphids. But this seems to be a simple matter only at first glance, and it is no coincidence that our service receives a lot of calls on this topic.
How, with what, when to feed and process the plants in many ways (if not all) depends on you and me.
When talking about feeding, you need to distinguish root and foliar fertilization... In the first case, fertilizers can be dissolved in water or poured into moist soil, in the second, they can be dissolved in water and sprayed on the leaves. The amount of fertilizing carried out, the concentration of fertilizers depends not only on the crop being fed, but also on the weather, on the season. In spring, in the process of active growth, plants consume more nutrients, especially nitrogen, iron, magnesium, which are responsible for the growth of green mass and participate in the processes of photosynthesis.
From mid-July, perennial herbaceous plants, fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs begin to prepare for winter. Yes, this has been happening since mid-summer, no matter how strange it may sound to us. It is during this period that the processes of ripening of shoots begin, the formation of flower and generative (fruit) buds for the next year. And during this period, plants consume in larger quantities than in spring, potassium, phosphorus, trace elements, but nitrogen from dressings must be completely excluded or reduced to a minimum. No wonder there are so-called "autumn" fertilizers on sale, for example, "Kemira-autumn", containing a minimum of nitrogen, only 4.8%.
Of course, you can use the widespread and well-proven fertilizers such as azofoska throughout the season. However, it should be borne in mind that most of them do not contain microelements, but only macroelements - N-P-K - (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium), and it is necessary to additionally use the mixtures "Mikrovit", "Cytovit" and the like.
And also calculate the dose of fertilization - so, in spring, 20-50 grams of the same azofoska can be applied per 1 m2, while from mid-June - no more than 10-15 grams.
Of course, annual vegetables and flowers must be fed with a full set of nutrients, otherwise the desired result - harvest and decorative appearance - will not be.
Foliar (leaf) feeding is carried out, as a rule, to quickly relieve nutritional deficiencies. The assimilation of nutrients through the leaves is faster, within 20 minutes, and not 1-2 hours, as with root feeding.
To do this, use fertilizers containing one or two nutrients, the lack of which negatively affects the growth and development of plants, for example, urea (nitrogen), superphosphate (phosphorus), potassium magnesium (potassium and magnesium). Spraying should be carried out in dry, calm weather, early in the morning or in the afternoon. The main rule is not to spray at noon in direct sunlight to avoid thermal burns. Also, observe the concentration of fertilizers, otherwise, instead of benefit, you will cause harm - chemical burns.
All types of fertilizers are used as top dressing - organic (manure, compost, herbal and peat infusions, etc.), mineral mixtures (so unloved by some "chemistry"), liquid organo-mineral fertilizers. The choice of the type of fertilizer, as well as the method of acquiring it - to buy or to make it yourself, remains with each person, completely according to his convictions and capabilities.
Let's make a small reservation - one ton of manure contains: 4.4 kg of nitrogen, 2 kg of phosphorus, 5 kg of potassium, 4 kg of calcium, trace elements. Moreover, the nutrients in the manure are in a form inaccessible to plants, it takes a long time for their mineralization (a single application of manure affects the growth and development of plants within 3 years). On average, the formation of a 1 kg head of cabbage requires 4.2 kg of nitrogen, 1.2 kg of phosphorus, 4 kg of potassium, 3.3 kg of calcium + microelements. It is quite obvious that even if a ton of manure is applied, the desired crop will not be obtained. And not under all crops it is possible to introduce manure, especially fresh (carrots, beets, green, many flower crops do not tolerate it). In rotted manure, the content of nutrients is even lower. The compost dose should be 1.5-2 times higher than the manure dose. And one more point - a chemical element, for example, nitrogen, is the same in both organic and mineral fertilizers. For plants, it makes no difference whether to take nitrogen from manure, herbal infusion or mineral fertilizer. There was a time when they scared us with might and main with nitrates, they say, the use of mineral fertilizers ("chemistry") leads to their excessive accumulation, and this is harmful to health. Yes, definitely harmful. But the same thing happens from the excessive introduction of the same compost and manure. Everything should be in moderation. After all, vitamins can be poisoned if you use them without measure.
Speaking about protecting plants from weeds, diseases and pests, one cannot slip into only one method - chemical treatment. It is necessary to apply a whole range of measures, primarily agrotechnical - this is soil preparation and pre-sowing seed treatment, correct sowing and planting of seedlings, watering, feeding, weeding and loosening, pruning trees and shrubs, etc. And only then - the use of chemical and biological drugs as ancillary measures.
It is necessary to create conditions for cultivated plants so that they can stand up for themselves. The law of natural selection says that the strongest wins. And we are not going anywhere from this. It is the weakened plant that is more strongly affected by diseases and pests.
Insecticides and acaricides are used against pests, fungicides are used against pathogens, weeds are eradicated with herbicides. They also use biologically active drugs, regulators of plant growth and development, herbal infusions.
It is not enough to spray the planting from the same aphid once. Why? First, the pest is extremely prolific. Secondly, aphid colonies migrate from plant to plant, there are flying individuals. Thirdly, pests quickly become addicted to the same type of poison used, the drugs must be changed.
It is very important to know the biology of the development of the pest and the causative agent of the disease, as well as the external signs of damage. It is desirable to identify them at the early stages of development, when control measures are most effective. For example, blackcurrant bud mite defenses are useless in May when the leaves begin to unfold. They must be carried out before the buds swell in March-April, when the snow has not melted yet. You can, of course, collect the affected buds, which take the form of balls, in spring and autumn, but it is quite difficult to completely get rid of this pest. Sometimes it is necessary to replace the affected bush with a new one.
According to the mode of action, drugs are contact, systemic and mixed. The contact ones act only when they hit the pest and the affected area of the tissue, the systemic ones make the cell sap and plant tissues poisonous, mixed act in both directions.
During the season, it is necessary to carry out several treatments, depending on the degree of damage to plants and weather conditions. So, biologically active drugs do not work or work very weakly at air and soil temperatures below + 10-15 ° C.Spraying should be carried out in calm, dry weather, so that the drug gets where it is needed and would not be washed away by rain at least within 2-3 hours from the moment of treatment. At least 3-4 days should pass between treatments, and preferably 1-1.5 weeks. The final treatment or top dressing can be done 20 days before harvest.
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