Hi I live in central Portugal in the mountains. Every summer here is drought and hot. I am creating an orchard with a wide range of fruit trees and hear a lot of people talk that you get better fruit by withholding irrigation before maturity.
1 - what is the timeframe of stopping irrigation and is it different per species? I have lots of plums, peaches, pawpaws, mulberries, pluots, berries etc. (Im not including fall/winter fruits because they get rain anyway)
2 - Most of my trees are connected with drip irrigation and I cant turn each individual tree off - unless i cut a small piece off with a knife and put a plug every time on/off but that seems like a huge hassle every year)
If anyone has experience much appreciated
Read @fruitnut posts i think. He seems to have water restriction and brix down to a science.
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My experience is in a greenhouse designed to replicate a dry warm summer climate. My trees are planted close together with intertwined roots. Harvest is from May through September for stone fruits. Thus, it is impossible to withhold water from any one tree or just during the period before harvest. I’ve succeeded in achieving high brix simply by practicing deficit irrigation all summer long. As near as I can tell watering with 50-70 % of full irrigation is about right. The amount I apply is simply a matter of trial and error. There is no playbook.
The trees are too dry if leaves begin to wilt and fall off. Tree growth should slow down but usually doesn’t stop completely. There are now meters that can be purchased that measure water pressure deficit in tree tissues. Those water pressure deficits have been published. Some work is being done and published. That should be available online.
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