Apple-Inter cultivation

The fertilizer recommended should be applied every year.  The fertilizer has to be applied around the plant at a radius of 1 meter from the plant and incorporated it through light hoeing.

Pruning and training are important in apple cultivation. One year old plants are cut back at about 80-100 cm above ground. If branches are present at this time, only 4 to 5 of them ought to be retained and shortened in length. No shoot is retained below 50 cm from ground. At the time of first dormant pruning, the main scaffold branches are cut back to about half a metre in length.

Secondary branches arise from these main limbs. Some of the new shoots arising early in the second summer are rubbed off in order to develop only a few vigorous secondary branches. During the second dormant pruning, the crowded, misplaced or diseased secondary branches are removed and the extra vigorous ones headed back. This process is continued for 4 or 5 years, at the end of which there are 8 to 10 scaffold branches.

Five quintals of bone meal and 10 quintals of wood ash per hectare are given annually besides the fertilizers. Fertilizers should be mixed with the soil at a radius of 1 m from the plant.

Irrigate the plant to overcome moisture stress. The most critical periods of water requirement are after fruit set. This period comes in the month of April to August.

In apples, heavy bearing not only results in small-sized poor quality fruits but also sets in alternate bearing cycle. Thinning of fruit is practiced to improve fruit colour and fruit size.

It is desirable to retain one fruit for every 40 leaves. This spaces the fruit at about 15-20 cm apart and there will be only one fruit per spur.