Tips for Starting an Orchard and Growing Fruit in 2024

Nowadays, when pollution is increasing, growing fruits and vegetables is becoming more and more popular. And that goes for personal needs in order to eat healthy for the needs of your family, and for commercial purposes. There is a great demand for healthy, organic foods. Things that were once available to everyone have become very expensive and sought after today. But planting an orchard is not at all simple and takes a lot of time and effort. To make your job easier, we will do our best to introduce you to some of the essentials.

There are several things in every fruit grower’s life that are not done as often and that requires some planning. The organization is key, so keep on reading if you want to know more about orchards and growing fruit.

Learn about the terrain and climate

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Get to know your land well, calculate how much space you have to plant an orchard. Keep in mind the surrounding trees, if any, can affect your production.

Since the position is chosen only once, it needs to be given full and serious attention. The most important factors influencing the choice of terrain are environmental and microclimatic conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the surrounding environment. As well as important factors such as relief, slope, exposure, wind exposure, etc.

Precipitation

Depending on the amount and distribution of rainfall per month, the planning of planting irrigation also depends. Knowing the number of rainy days will allow us to organize your irrigation in the best possible time.

Elevation

Frequency and severity of fog occurrence are also very important. Air humidity and altitude are also of particular importance for fruit production.

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The appearance of the wind

The occurrence of wind, its intensity, and frequency (wind rose) should be recorded in order to decide on the need for protection. By frequency, the occurrence of early autumn and late spring frosts should also be analyzed by year.

Temperature

An important climatic factor, it influences the intensity of the physiological processes as well as the change of phenological stages in the plant. All fruit types have heat requirements some less some more. The production of apple, stone and kernel fruit types is possible at temperatures from -20 C to +35 C. For the development of fertility of these fruits, the temperature is 20 – 25 C most favorable. With increasing latitude and altitude, the temperature drops.

The fruits of the temperate continental zone can be successfully grown at an altitude of 700 – 900 m. Early spring frosts should be observed and in those areas, no early blooming and fruiting species should be grown

Choose the land correctly

Land selection should also be taken into account and should be given due consideration. First of all, it is necessary to investigate the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil, the existence of groundwater, the possibility of retaining groundwater on the surface and other important factors. Care must be taken that the plants receive sufficient sunlight and that there is good drainage of the soil. If the soil is not rich in nutrients it should be enriched.

That the soil is bad should not stop you from growing fruit. The use of compost, fertilizer and mulch increases soil fertility. Of course, this is a process that takes years, so your plants will grow smaller or slower, but it is certainly possible for such land to be cultivated.

Take care of planting

Care should be taken to have the same species planted side by side if you have multiple types of fruit trees in the orchard. Such planting facilitates pollination, pruning and spraying, and of course this makes the orchard look organized and tidy. Here you need to know how tall and wide your trees grow to leave enough space for each plant.

Depending on the type of fruit you are harvesting, you will need pollinators, some types will pollinate on their own, and some will need the other species completely. Before planting, research in detail how to pollinate the species you grow, and therefore plan on planting a number of pollinating trees. Pollinators must be “downwind” so that pollen can reach all flowers, and it is suggested that they be at the ends of the orchards. Of course, for larger plantings, plant in a certain number of rows.

Plan your expenses thoroughly

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In addition to such things, the necessary machinery, water source, facilities, roads, labor, electricity, and finally the placement of the product should be planned.

Good planning will help you organize your orchard, business, responsibilities and expenses. Also, it will be easier for you to determine the goals and urgency of your orchard’s jobs, benefits and disadvantages, and be able to treat any shortcomings in time.

Fertilizer application

Fertilizer application errors deserve a separate article and are very common. Fertilizers, whether organic or mineral or both, are put away from the roots because they can cause damage. More agronomists will make different recommendations, but everyone agrees that fertilizer never goes near the roots.

It is best to put the fertilizer on the bottom of the hole, mix it with the soil, put another layer of soil, and then seedlings. You can put another layer of fertilizer in the top of the hole, and if it is soil with poorer organic matter and nutrients, reduce its amount.

Food forest

Forest gardens, that is, food forests, are a traditional way of planting major food crops in many tropical areas, such as Tanzania or the Indian state of Kerala. There are still some food foresters in Southeast Asia that have been owned by the same families for hundreds of years.

The food forest is planted according to plan and almost all the plants in it have nutritional or other value to us, and we choose the rest to grow as support and protection for the plants we primarily want to grow. In the forest garden, space is used not only horizontally but also vertically, and the plants are arranged to fill certain vertical layers both above and below ground.

Sometimes more layers are added, such as aquatic plants (if there is a stream or pond within the forest garden), and mushrooms. Mushrooms, of course, are not plants, but they thrive well in the shade so a forest garden can be a good place for cultivation. Learn more at Lost in Valhala about these and food forests as well.

Now that you know all this, it is clear to you that although there is plenty to do, it is worth planting an orchard. Certainly one of the jobs of the future that is nice and healthy to do.