Fruits that have fallen from a tree, including apple trees (fallen fruit), are unsuitable for further storage due to disease, pests, and damage to the skin during the fall. However, this does not mean they are unsuitable for consumption.
Examples of use
There are many options for using fallen fruit:
- preparation of compote, jam, cider, vinegar;
- obtaining dried fruits;
- use as a fertilizer.
Fertilizer from fallen apples
Fallen apples are a good organic fertilizer. Their high concentration of micronutrients will enrich the soil and ultimately increase crop yields. There are three ways to use fallen apples as fertilizer for other crops:
- direct placement into the ground;
- use as one of the components of compost:
- obtaining liquid fertilizer.
Direct feeding
This application must be done very carefully. Only disease-free apples are suitable for this method:
- Make small grooves between the rows.
- Chop the apples with a shovel or an axe.
- Place them in the grooves, you can add mulch, rotted grass, leaves.
- Mix with soil and bury.
Compost
Fruits are an excellent filler for organic fertilizer. Not only do fallen fruits quickly decompose, enriching the compost, but they also accelerate its maturation.
To obtain the correct fertilizer, you need to follow a number of rules:
- Take a plastic container, a wooden box, or simply dig a hole.
- Line the bottom with straw and branches.
- Select apples without signs of disease and chop them.
- Lay them out mixed with grass, leaves, and tops, alternating: a layer of soil - 10 cm, then a mixture - 50 cm.
- Cover the resulting compost with film.
- Stir and water periodically.
- Make sure there's no unpleasant ammonia smell. If this occurs, add scraps of paper and cardboard.
Acceleration of ripening can be achieved by the following means: Siyanie, Unique-S.
The finished organic fertilizer can be obtained after three months (it should have the smell of forest soil, be dark, moist and crumbly).
Liquid fertilizer
The components (chopped fallen fruit, rotted leaves, tops, chicken manure, ash, urea) are placed in a container in the sun and filled with water.
After six months, when bubbles appear, the resulting liquid substrate is used as liquid plant fertilizer. One part of the resulting fertilizer is diluted with 10 parts water.
Which crops benefit from apple fertilizing?
This fertilizer has a positive effect on the yield of strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, and blackberries. The soil where apples were planted in the fall, mixed with chicken manure, urea, ash, and humus, is good for planting vegetables in the spring: cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, and squash.
