In water and mud a large number of perennial, deep-rooted “tree” crops and vines were submerged due to the bad weather Daniel that hit the Thessalian plain leaving producers in despair.

The management of these “tree” crops and the vine, is different from the annual crops that will follow in the current growing season (from October onwards), perhaps even the combination of perennial – annual crops, as Dr. Alexandros Papachatzis, Professor of Arboriculture at the University of Thessaly, president, emphasizes to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency of the Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Technology and director of the “Horticulture & Soil Resources, HORTLAB” Laboratory.

Speaking about the management of the post-flood lands, in the Thessalian plain, Mr. Papachatzis points out that flooded soil can experience what is called ‘post-flood syndrome’, similar to ‘fallow syndrome’where the land is left barren of any crop, for the whole year.

Flooded soils will experience problems caused by decreasing colonization rates of beneficial soil fungi.

Agricultural lands affected by flooding and left unplanted with any annual crop, or even a cover crop, will have potential economic and territorial environmental consequences.

One of these possible changes, he explains, is the change in soil biological health. The presence of cultivated plants, such as legumes (alfalfa, clover, vetch, etc.) in such areas will help to establish the microbial community in the root zone, which is necessary for the absorption cycle of nutrients, especially phosphorus . It is recommended that the seeds of the plants to be used are coated with “mycorrhizae”.

Mycorrhizae are fungi that live in plant roots and absorb water and nutrients from the soil to deliver to the roots.

The tree crops (orchards) are perennial, deep-rooted, the professor continues, but also costly crops, which need some years to give us full production, usually from 5 to 8, and they live for several decades. Therefore, their loss, according to the expert scientist, can be a serious financial disaster for the grower. In addition, they are also crops sensitive to soil diseases, due to excessive moisture, but also to “root suffocation”, mainly due to the long-term coverage of the soil with stagnant water (floods, rains, etc.).

Usually, up to 2 days, the flooded orchardsthey do not have a problem of “root suffocation” and if a very good soil drainage follows, then there is also no problem of some diseases, such as Phytophthora spp (phytophthora), which attacks the “neck” (the point where the trunk of the tree with the ground), causing the whole tree to gradually rot and dry out.

Most trees (such as peach, almond, cherry, pistachio, walnut, apple, olive, etc.) can withstand flooding for up to about 7 days, after which the problems of “root suffocation” begin.

Exceptions are plum tree and the cherry tree, resistant to flooded ground, up to 30 days, but also as many other trees, such as the almond tree and the peach tree I mentioned above, when they are grafted onto “rootstocks” (the lower part of the plant that we use for its properties mainly in relation to the soil) of plum.

But what is “root suffocation”; It is, Mr. Papachatzis clarifies, the lack of oxygen, usually caused by the waterlogging of our orchard soils, thus creating an anaerobic environment in the area of ​​the rhizosphere of the trees, with a parallel increase in carbon dioxide and ethylene, the which poison our trees and in the end they die (dry up).

The Professor of Arboriculture at the University of Thessaly does not fail to emphasize what should be the management of post-flooded orchards. It focuses on the following areas:

  1. we take care of the immediate removal and drainage of the flooded orchards, either with pumps to suck up the water, or by opening water escape channels.
  2. we remove all transportable materials (wood, straw, garbage, etc.) and when the soil dries, we pass a light “cultivator” so that it aerates better, but trying not to compact our soil with particularly heavy machinery.
  3. immediately after removing the water, we “mudge” around the trunk (neck) of the tree, so that there are no conditions of excessive moisture that favor the development of diseases.
  4. water around the trunk (and trunk) of the trees with “Chestnut compound”. It is prepared by mixing 2 kg of powdered copper sulfate (bluestone) with 9 kg of ammonia carbonate (soda) in a plastic container without water. Dissolve then 30g. of this preparation, in 10 liters of water and water at the root.
  5. we smear the lower part of the trunk of the tree and especially the “neck” with “bordigall pulp”, ready, or we prepare it ourselves with copper sulfate (bluestone) and lime (you can find a recipe on the internet).
  6. as I mentioned above, it is recommended between the trees of the orchard, to sow a cover crop like a “lawn” (lawn), if possible with legumes (alfalfa, clover) enriched with mycorrhizae, otherwise we can even use native vegetation where we will cut her hair.

Restructuring of crops in the Thessalian plain

We believe, he concludes by emphasizing, that the planting of perennial tree crops, with their deep root system and their co-culture with legumes (as cover crops), not only give a supplementary income in the first years, until our trees enter full production, but they also increase the porosity of the soil, draining it better and creating more favorable conditions for the absorption of nutrients by our trees.

Especially on sloping lands, we should avoid planting annual crops, which need “carving”, such as corn, cotton, industrial tomato, etc., which, however, leave our soil “uncovered” and completely vulnerable to its erosion, even from light rains, or even from irrigation.