watering fruit trees

9 years ago

Someone gave me a 5 gallon jar with a spout for making tea. I have been using it to water my fruit trees by placing it at the base of the tree, filling it and then with the spout open, letting the water seep into the ground at the base of the tree. I vaguely remembering reading that trees needed to be watered at the drip line as well as the base. Using this jar, the water doesn't seem to be getting to the drip line. Is this a problem or will the tree get the water where it needs it?

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User

9 years ago

You should leave this hint under the Garden Web Advice section!

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Comments (9)

frdnicholas
Original Author
9 years ago
I thought I was in the fruit tree section. At least, that's what I clicked on. How do I get this question into the correct forum?
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PRO
Urbafloria
9 years ago
Create a basin around the drip line of the tree by creating a berm with soil, you can then flood the basin and let it soak into the area, this will keep the water from running off and give it a chance to soak into the soil. Fill the basin with 6" of shredded wood mulch to help conserve moisture in the soil.
frdnicholas
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for your suggestion; I appreciate your taking the time to respond. I do create the basin effect but what is a "berm"? What I'm really wondering about is this: If I use the 5 gallon jar to water, the water soaks down to the root but doesn't wet the drip line. If I alternate using the 5 gallon jar one time and the next water the entire basin, will that be as effective as watering the basin each watering?
redtartan
9 years ago
At our last place we had an apple that cross pollinated with our ornamental crab, two cherry trees and a self pollinating plum. I never did a drip line and they always did well. They were dwarf varieties. I never did get cherries or plums because the bird would always get them before they rippened. I'm in zone 5 though. What zone are you in that you need a drip system? I just mulched mine and watered really well. Young trees don't have far spreading roots. As they mature though the roots do spread very far and that is usually why a drip line works best in hot climate or dead of summer. Roots sit at about 3 or 4 feet deep.
Here we have ferral and wild fruit trees on the property and most do very well that are healthy trees and I don't even water them since they're out in the pastures.
Just water the tree deeply, not close to the trunk though and make sure water is getting at least 2 feet into the ground around the perimeter. I'm not sure 5 gallons will be enough if you live in a warmer climate. Of course it depends on the age of your trees or how many you have. When you do the basin method you don't have to water as frequently but it gets a deep watering. You can usually get away with once a week and the tree will do well and won't be stressed (or course depends on climate and variety).
frdnicholas
Original Author
9 years ago
I am in zone 7, Albuquerque, New Mexico and the trees are 10 years old, semi-dwarf trees about 10-12 feet tall. They do produce abundant fruit in years when our winds don't knock off the blossoms. This looks like a real good year, as the trees are loaded. When you say don't water near the trunk, why is that? I have been putting the 5 gallon jar 3-4 inches away from the trunk. Will this cause a problem? I have 2 plum trees, a nectarine, a peach, quince, Navajo apricot, pomegranite, figs, gooseberries. I don't know the varieties because when I bought them, I was a total newbie and didn't pay attention to varieties. Also, some of the plants were given to me by an amazing gardener who just intuitively knew how to take care of them. When I fill the basin, I let the water soak in, and then refill the basin. Again, when we have had fruit, it's been sweet and juicy, maybe not as big as they could be, but plenty to eat, share and make brandy. I should also mention that my yard gets full sun all day.
redtartan
9 years ago
You can get rot issues and pests from water right at the trunk. You probably are much better for a dripline set up with more frequent and less deep given your climate. Where I am we just have buds forming on the trees.
When you think of how roots grow the wide parts of the roots are close to the trunk, this isn't where the plants take up water. They get it from further away at the ends of the roots and draw it up. So you would be better to water further away with yours being 10 years old. It will take up more water that way. Remember the roots don't grow straight down in a tree they spread out. I'm not sure the exact distance for each variety, but I am sure you could find out that information. Obviously if they are doing well you're not doing a bad job with them, but you could try it on one tree and see what works better.
frdnicholas
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you; that is really helpful. I will water the whole basin and if I use the jar at all, I'll put it at the drip line pointing inward. Fortunately, the only pest difficulty has been a small amount of aphids. I just released live ladybugs, so I am curious to see if they handle the problem. They don't seem to be interfering with the fruit, but they can be a real problem on our roses.
redtartan
9 years ago
I was thinking more of earwigs when I mentioned pests, but if you have aphids the ladybugs will definitely help. Once I freaked out seeing this weird looking bug on one of the shrubs. I think it was an mock orange??? Anyway the shrub was loaded in aphids and these weird looking bugs. Thanks be to the internet because I googled it and it was a lady bug larva. Haha, I felt like an idiot because I was actually creeped out by this bug. Anyway I just snipped off the heavily infested aphid branches and the lady bugs must have been able to handle the rest because it came back beautifully.

watering fruit trees

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