Maintenance works in horticultural crops. – Blog

Maintenance works are of particular relevance to achieve the following objectives: – achieve the highest economic benefits through the reasonable use of mechanization, chemical treatments and irrigation; – avoid soil degradation and pollution to produce high quality vegetables; – The implementation, according to the rules based on the individual development of plants, of actions to guide growth and fruiting, as well as the appropriate use of bioactive substances, with a specific or non -specific effect.

The maintenance works of horticultural crops are presented in two groups:

– Generally, applied according to the common rules and execution techniques, to all species;

– Special (detail)applied to certain cultures or special situations.

General application works are: loosen the earth and fight the crusts; Cover the soil with the mulch, preventing its appearance and fighting weeds; measures to maintain the thickness of plants in cultivation; Prevent crop losses caused by diseases and parasites; facial fertilization; irrigation.

1. Soil locking And the anticostra is applied to heavy and compact soils, with the aim of a uniform emergency of the plants.

2. Padded floor It has more effects: it improves humidity and heat regime, fights weeds, protects crops from low temperatures and prevents the qualitative deterioration of vegetable products. The work consists in covering the soil with various organic materials (straw, sand, semi -informed manure, peat) or synthetic (special paper, plastic sheets).

3. Prevent the appearance and fight weeds. It is carried out by interventions aimed at reducing the reserve of weeds of weeds in the ground: web, weeding, padding of the soil or weeding.

– hoe It is done in the phase in which the weeds are small and vegetative sprouts are not formed.

– The lawn Do it when the weeds are small and the soil is cold so that the plants can be easily rooted at the root. It is applied in high density crops, in plants files. After deserving, the ground is compact, which requires loosening it.

– herbicides It is made with the help of specific herbicides, respecting the period of application and the dose for each species. Herbicides do not replace or exclude other soil maintenance work.

4. Optimization of the crop density. This is done by filling the holes:

– In the crops established by direct sowing, the king -production is performed using moistened or prepared seeds.

– In the case of tomatoes, lettuce, summer and winter Radiclor, fill the empty spaces with seedlings resulting from clarifications in adjacent files or files.

-For seedlings formed by seedlings, the holes are filled 4-5 days after sowing with seedule specially preserved for this purpose, of the same variety and of the same age.

5. Prevention and control of diseases and parasites. Includes preventive and healing measures.

– Preventive measures It refers to: the use of varieties with high natural resistance, seeds and healthy plant material, devoid of diseases and parasites, respect for the rotation of crops and the destruction of the weeds.

– Healing measures Know the treatments applied to crops, with specific insecticides and chemical or biological fungids, respecting the doses of application corresponding to each phenophase, as well as the destination of crops.

6. Facial fertilization Its purpose is to guarantee the nutrients necessary for the development of plants in each growth phase, as well as correct the deficiencies of the microelements.

7. Irrigation It must be applied and directed differently, depending on the harvest and according to the water regime.

Special works (detail)

rarity It is made for horticultural crops created by the plantation in files or nests. The work is done manually and aims to eliminate, by tearing, the less developed or superfluous plants, respecting the thickness corresponding to the harvest. Raleo's moment is established according to the species and the vigor of plants. In some species (carrot, parsley, chivía), a clarification in two phases occurs and the resulting plants can be eaten. In other species (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pepper, beets), the resulting plants can be used to fill the holes in the harvest. Raleo's work can be eliminated if the healed seeds are used for sowing.

Bile and the mouse. They are tasks oriented to establish the conditions for the production of adventitious roots (tomatoes, cucumbers), the formation of tubers (potatoes), a greater resistance of the plants to the influence of the predominant winds and the burning of the edible parts (escarols, asparagus, leeks , celery for the stem, Fennel of Florence). In reduced areas, the work is done manually, using hoe or shovel, collecting the earth around the plant ..

Direct development of the plant. Specifically of each culture, it is guaranteed through: tutoring, palized, co -pilot, pinch, default and default.

– Tutorial It applies to suspended plants (beans, cucumbers) or those that are suppressed with high growth (indeterminate tomatoes) for vertical maintenance, being able to use different materials such as support.

– The palisade It consists in directing and supporting the plants of the same row on the back; It is used for crops in protected areas (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers). Through this way of supporting plants vertically, space is used more efficiently and the degree of access to plants has increased to perform maintenance work.

– The child It consists in suppressing the outbreaks (children) that appear in the plant, usually at the base of the leaves, before exceeding 5 cm in length, because they are large consumers of reserve substances and delay the growth and ripening of the fruits.

– The pinch It consists in suppressing the peak of the growth of the lateral branches of the epidemic, in order to direct the fruiting of cucumbers and melons on protected spaces.

– meat cake It consists in suppressing the main peak of the growth of the stem to stop its growth in height and limit the number of fruits of the plant. The processing is performed manually, leaving 2-3 leaves above the last format format.

– Default It is done with the aim of obtaining adequate ventilation and lighting of plants. The aging leaves are eliminated from the plant at the level of the phases of fruiting with exhausted fruiting.