How do you know when to water you mature and not so mature fruit trees...Apples, stone fruit, persimmons, etc

[Zone6]

How do you know when to water you mature and not so mature fruit trees…Apples, stone fruit, persimmons, etc.

Say in 95+ degree days with no rain for weeks.

[fruitnut]

Mature trees shouldn’t need water until the grass or similar nearby vegetation starts to turn brown. Or at least shows water stress. That’s how I judge when to water my pecan tree.

For trees planted this year a good watering once a week should suffice. Preferably in a basin around the tree.

[elivings1]

With my mature standard or semi dwarf apple trees in ground we don’t even water them.

[poncirusguy]

I don’t water.

[DennisD]

If fruit load is heavy or if I am trying to grow new grafts, I water if there is no rain in sight, regardless of temperature, concentrate it around the drip line where feeder roots need ii most. If rain is expected within a week I can water less, but typically this time of year peak growing, I water every 3 rd day
Dennis
Kent, Wa

[TNHunter]

There are thousands of wild trees, vines, canes, bushes on my place that produce fruit (hickory, persimmons, muscadines, wild grapes, blackberries, deerberry) and never get watered other than rain.

In the large majority of years a new fruit tree, cane, vine, bush, etc… that I plant in my orchard gets watered once when planted. Thats it.

Once planted… i do my best to give them the same advantage that the wild plants have… a deep layer of compost in a wide circle around it… covered by a deep layer of wood chips.

[CRhode]

I replied to a similar topic a couple of years ago:

Watering with 5 gallon buckets

I have 20 trees, and I get by with junk garden hose that I leave in place all season. Here’s a parts list: Vacuum breaker. You need this at the hydrant so that fluid in the hose doesn’t run back out the weep hole there after the hydrant is shut off. This uses hydrant threads female-male. Pressure reducer. You need this at the vacuum breaker to step-down the water pressure at the hydrant to 30psi. This uses hydrant threads female-male. Quick couplers male-female. I use these on eit…

That post includes a reference to irrometers, which are devices for measuring soil moisture. They come in various depths and porosity for various soil types, and they’re calibrated in kilo Pascals (kPa) of vacuum. Of course, this isn’t directly useful as an indicator of plant stress, but, after irrigating, you can note whether the plants respond and begin to correlate in your mind how much difference a watering session makes in the vacuum. Thus, you learn how often to turn on the water, guided by the irrometer reading. The trick is to stay out in front of stress.

[hambone]

good to know as some of my fig grafts are going nowhere fast.

[benthegirl]

I am now wondering the same thing. I know people are saying they are not watering - but it is the second summer of drought where I am and that is an unusual condition here. Driving along the road you see many more dead trees this summer than I have before.

Some of my trees are quite unhealthy (I have been trying to get them back in shape, but it is hard) and I do wonder if watering would help them to be less stressed. I have mostly very large (15+feet) apple and pear trees. I can water them, so if it would help- I would.

I have drip irrigation set up for other areas and can easily run a line and add drip tape to my orchard areas. It would be not too much effort but of course I don’t want to waste water or do something that won’t help.

For my young peaches and figs (the only young trees I have). They get about 1.5 gal/day from drip irrigation if it doesn’t rain for 5 days or so. I use drip tube in a ring around them and I leave the drippers on for 1 hr. Also, they have mulch around them. My soil drains well so I don’t worry about them getting soggy. I am no expert but they seem to be doing well enough.