Without a doubt, something that becomes evident after episodes of extreme or unseasonal rainfall is how susceptible the agricultural area can become if it confronts nature.

The flooding of cherry orchards is a reality that has affected different producing countries and leaves a series of questions. What to do after a flood? Is it possible to save a cherry orchard that has been left under a lot of water or with its roots exposed?

The first thing is to clean the garden, remove garbage, plant waste and river drainage, in addition to doing the necessary maintenance on the irrigation lines that may have been affected.

In the event that roots are exposed, it is necessary to cover them again and hill up the soil so that they do not dehydrate, are not exposed and do not die, and thus, the plant lives. On the other hand, in the case of swamped orchards, where a new soil was left on top of the old one, probably much higher than the original level, the recommendation is to oxygenate the necks, open an ornamental cup, but it does not make much sense to remove all that soil that crawled there, it is practically impossible.

Phytosanitary problems

Another major concern is phytosanitary problems in orchards; Trying to clean them is not an easy or economical task, probably because it is full of residue and that prevents any application from reaching the wounds – which can be caused by the residue carried by the water and which can cause damage to the wood-. If there are high temperatures, the possibility of bacteria increases, so the first thing to do will be to clean and evaluate.

Should the phytosanitary program be modified due to flooding?

In particularly complex situations we may have to incorporate some biological fungicide to the winter applications, apart from the cupric applications that are normally made; And the last thing, we have to do new soil analyzes in that type of orchards, the soil is different, it has changed completely, so we must analyze what our soil is and how we are going to rearrange the programs that we had pre-established.

With respect to the applications required by post-flood cherry orchards, a recommendation from specialists is to start with coppers and make some applications with broad-spectrum fungicides, which serve to lower the total inoculum load; Then, keep looking, because phytophthora may appear in some cases, these fungi are soil-borne and if there is a lot of water around they find their time, although they are not winter fungi, the weather is unpredictable.

Cover wounds above all, look to see if the soles have bent, observe and make direct applications eventually, it can also be painting, helping to heal so that these fungi and bacteria do not penetrate, that is the most urgent thing.

Make a list of priorities and resolve each of them, keeping in mind their level of urgency, for the next cherry season.

Originally posted on Smartcherry