When and how to spray trees and bushes with urea and copper sulfate?

The use of urea in the spring processing of fruit and decorative deciduous trees is an effective method of protection against fungal diseases and the prevention of attacks by harmful insects. When spraying with urea, nitrogen fertilization of plants also occurs.

Characteristics of urea

This organic compound produced by the chemical industry is also called urea. The product contains 46 percent nitrogen, so it is a concentrated nitrogen fertilizer. Urea enters the commercial network in the form of granules of a white or yellowish tint. The substance has a weak odor, dissolves in water as completely and qualitatively as possible.

If urea is used as fertilizer, the granules are scattered around the tree trunk and immediately added with earth, because the active substances evaporate quickly under the influence of air. Then the trunk circle is watered abundantly.

Using a tree protection agent, a spray solution is made, usually 5 percent. As a result of chemical reactions, the components of urea are released in the form of ammonia, which has a depressing effect on fungal life forms and pests. The solution in the form of a solution allows you to treat large areas of trees and is well absorbed by plants. Urea is not hazardous to the environment.

Why is urea used?

Due to its chemical properties, urea acts in several ways.

• The development of trees is improved after foliar top dressing with a carbamide solution.
• Autumn processing, when more than 40% of the foliage has flown off the tree, helps to strengthen the plant and its frost resistance. The solution is made the most concentrated: 8-10%.
• Vegetation of fruit trees after spring spraying slows down by about a week and a half. Delaying flowering of varieties that ripen early makes it possible to avoid the threat of spring frosts.
• Urea prevents wood diseases such as scab, moniliosis, septoria, rot, cancer, and purple spot.
• Spraying with urea does not affect all pests, but clears the tree of weevils, apple blossom beetle, honeydew, aphids and some others.
• The bark is freed from moss.
• Small drops flow down the branches to the soil, enriching it.

In autumn, fallen leaves are sprayed with carbamide, which cover the trunk circle.

When is the best time to use urea?

The substance is harmless to plants, it is used several times per season. Old trees, on which signs of the disease were noticed in the summer, are sprayed with urea in the fall.

Spring processing is carried out three times.

1. The first time trees and shrubs are sprayed with the establishment of warm weather, when the thermometer reaches 5 ^aboutC. The kidneys are still at rest, the pests are not activated - it is easy to act on them by a contact method. In some regions, this period falls on the beginning of March.
2. The next treatment is carried out during the flowering period. Leaf buds are already beginning to awaken, so it is necessary to reduce the concentration of the active substance. The buds of leaves and flowers can burn, affecting yields. In this case, adult foliage tolerates processing without damage.
3. The third time is processed on the ovaries.

The first spraying of fruit trees and shrubs is carried out with a high concentration of urea.

Ways to use urea

For therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, a different amount of the active substance in solutions is used.When calculating the total volume, remember that for 10 m² garden we use 2.5 liters of working solution. No substances can be mixed with urea, except for copper sulfate. This drug serves as a guarantee that pathogens and pests will be destroyed.

• Applying to the kidneys, 0.6 kg of urea is dissolved in 10 liters of water.
• In early spring, we also spray trees with urea and copper sulfate. 0.7 kg of urea and 0.05-0.1 kg of copper sulfate are added to 10 liters of water.
• For subsequent treatments, take 0.5-0.05 kg of urea per 10 liters of water.

Before spraying, trees and shrubs are sometimes fed with carbamide additionally, scattering granules along the projection of the crown. For apple trees, 0.23 kg of substance is taken, plums and cherries - 0.15 kg each. If manure or humus was laid in the fall, the rate is halved. In summer, urea is used for foliar feeding of plants.

Solution preparation

It is better to dilute urea in hot water, up to 80 ^aboutC, - this way the granules will dissolve faster.

1. Pour urea into the container, pour water up to a third or half of the volume, stir until the granules dissolve.
2. Powdered copper sulfate is added, also stirring.
3. Pour into the tank, filtering the solution.

Preparing the garden for work

A good treatment effect against diseases and pests depends on the correct preparation of the garden. Since autumn, all fallen leaves and branches are removed, taken out of the territory of the site or burned. This is always done. But the trunk circle is especially carefully removed if the plants have been damaged. With this approach, you can be sure that half of the insects hibernating in the cracks in the bark of affected branches and leaves are destroyed.

1. In late winter or early spring, during the frost period from 0 to 10 degrees, cut shrubs and trees.
2. After frost, the lagging areas of the bark are cleaned with a metal brush, while simultaneously removing pests from their shelters. Lichen and moss spots are also removed.
3. In the first warm days, the territory of the garden is completely freed from the remnants of pruning and the trunk circles are dug.

Urea will only be effective at temperatures above 5 ^aboutC.

Rules for working with urea

Preventive and therapeutic procedures are carried out based on general recommendations.

• When working with urea and copper sulfate, they wear protective suits, glasses, gloves.
• For processing from the beginning of spring, a warm, windless day is chosen.
• The entire tree, branches, buds or leaves are processed.
• The best result is achieved by spraying the entire garden. It is also worth talking to neighbors in order to destroy pests at the same time.
• The procedures are carried out in the morning or in the evening. This rule is strictly adhered to during flowering so as not to harm beneficial insects.
• It is advisable to check the weather forecast. The rain that has passed within 24 hours after treatment washes away the substance.

Urea will not protect against all diseases and pests, but the cleaning effect of the garden will be significant. In addition, the safety of the product should be taken into account. The use of carbamide will give a double result: plant protection and fertilization.