How to get rid of plum shoots: causes and remedies

For beginners and even experienced gardeners, the question arises: how to get rid of the shoots growing near the plum tree? Young green sprouts take nutrients from the main tree and make the garden look like an impenetrable jungle. First of all, it is necessary to find out the cause of the appearance of overgrowth. After all, it is impossible to solve a problem without knowing what factors led to its occurrence.

Causes of plum shoots

Sooner or later, shoots appear around any plum tree. There are varieties of plums that give basal shoots in smaller or larger quantities. Green sprouts always appear from weakened trees, struggling for survival and thus tending to produce offspring.

Landing errors

If a plum seedling has not been planted deep enough, its roots will come up to the surface and be exposed during heavy rain or artificial irrigation. Sometimes the roots themselves rush up if they lack nutrients or moisture.

Roots approaching the surface are often injured due to loosening of the soil in the root circle. Injury often activates the growth of root shoots. Young shoots may appear on roots that have come out of the ground.

If gardeners do not want to face such a problem as root shoots in the future, they need to straighten the roots down the mound during planting, and the tree itself should be buried in the ground to the root collar. It is better to immediately mulch the earth in the root circle.

Damage to bark and branches

Too much sanitary pruning can weaken the tree. Not receiving nutrients from the above-ground organs, the plum activates the growth of young green sprouts from the roots located near the surface. Shoots may appear on trees with damaged bark. In this case, the normal supply of nutrients is interrupted. A weakened tree immediately throws out basal shoots.

Graft and rootstock

If the graft and rootstock are chosen incorrectly, they do not fit together, then the plum tree begins to grow slowly, bears fruit poorly, quickly sheds foliage. Trying to survive, the plum sprouts numerous basal shoots.

Why would you want to delete it?

If the plum grows well, rarely gets sick, gives a high yield, then it is better to remove the root shoots. After all, such shoots take away nutrients from the tree and significantly reduce yields. In addition, the abundance of shoots turns the garden plot into an impenetrable thicket.

The sprouts formed on the roots can be left only if the tree is own-rooted, old, very sick, does not bear fruit.

Sprouts from such a plum can be used as an independent seedling.

How to get rid of plum growth in the area

You can clear the root circle from the emerging shoots in various ways. The easiest way is to prevent the shoots from breaking out from under the ground, that is, to cover the soil around the tree with mulch. If sprouts appear, then they are removed not only from the surface. The shoots that have grown out of the ground must be removed to the base, that is, to the root, otherwise they will soon grow again. You can fight the overgrowth with chemical agents that destroy unwanted vegetation.

Application of arboricides

You can fight the vegetation that appears in the root circle with the help of chemicals - arboricides (Arsenal, Picloram, Roundup, Arbonal, Tornado).These are herbicides that destroy root shoots. Arboricides begin to act only if they fall on the aerial part of the shoot. Chemical poison penetrates into the vegetation and leads to its withering, drying out. Arboricides reach the seedlings through irrigation or injection at the base of the tree.

Method of isolating shoots

You can once and for all get rid of unwanted growth if the near-stem circle immediately after planting the seedling is mulched with film, gravel, expanded clay, hay, bark, burlap or straw. No vegetation will break through a thick layer of mulch. True, in this case, the tree will have to be artificially irrigated, each time raising or raking a layer of mulch.

Mechanical method

Usually, shoots are removed with a pruner. First, they carefully rake the soil and expose the root from which the shoot grew. Then a young sprout is cut off with a pruner at the base of the root.The cut point must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, copper or iron sulfate. Then cover with garden pitch, oil paint, clay or cement mixture. When the treated area dries up, the roots should be covered with earth again.

How to prevent it from appearing

The fight against shoots is usually carried out every spring - before the start of sap flow, or in late autumn - after leaf fall. In summer, it is better not to injure the root system of the tree. Getting rid of shoots growing out of the ground is not so easy, they grow again every season.

You can prevent the emergence of new sprouts by mulching the trunk circle with mulch. Shoots will not grow if the earth near the plum is not raked, and watering is carried out carefully, without pressure, without exposing the roots of the tree. It is advisable to pour soil, peat or rotted manure into the near-trunk circle from time to time. Noticing the sprout that has appeared, you can cut it to a stump, and then treat it with a herbicide (Glyphos, Hurricane, Tornado).

Plum varieties without shoots

There are no plums that do not have basal shoots. It's just that in some varieties they grow in larger numbers, while in others they grow in smaller numbers. In one season, some types of plums can produce about 20 basal sprouts. Own-rooted trees have twice as many unwanted shoots on their roots approaching the surface as trees growing on someone else's stock.

There are varieties of plums that, even with proper care, give abundant shoots. These are Italian Hungarian, Local red, Hungarian ordinary, Ochakov yellow. They form a large number of basal shoots, even if they were used as a grafted seedling. This happens if the grafting site was buried in the ground, and the scion moved to its roots.

Rarely, basal sprouts are formed in plums of the species Renklod Altana, Anna Shpet, Stanley. These varieties have excellent immunity and higher yields.

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