Water Logged Trees

[thaipod]

We went to our land yesterday and the orchard is still under water but about 30% of the fruit tress are dying and most of the others are not looking good . the only ones that seem to be O K are the coconuts and established mangoes and rose apples .

Is there anything I can do to slow down the process , maybe cut the trees back . I'm really worried about losing all my established trees that produce fruit also shade in the hotter months

[elliss]

since most of the water taken in by the trees roots

goes to the branches and leaves,

i think cutting back would be detrimental .

try improving the drainage, by digging french ditches .

[ozzydom]

thaipod,is the water inundation a regular occurance ? and are your fruit trees planted randomly or in rows ? finally is the land flat or do you have a fall on it.?

[xen]

After the soil has been underwater for any time the voids in the soil become water filled resulting in a lack of oxygen in the soil to the roots which will die back first and then the rest of the tree will die back. It depends on how much longer the soil will be soaked and if it is underwater there may not be much you can do if you cannot drain it . When it is no longer under water then i would cultivate the soil to open it up. Deep ploughing with a ripper or a chisel plough would be best. But at the same time running a mechanical plant or anything with any weight also increases the danger of soil compaction especially on heavy/clay soils. A Catch 22 situation. In the long term , increase drainage ,both surface and sub-surface, and improve soil structure by adding organic matter and foculating clay soils with the adition of gypsium .

Also the soil pH will need to be looked at but this will change as it dries out and some form of pH correction may help - Lime or dolarmite perhaps.

Another possibility will be fungal disease such as phythopera or or Pythium which will also show up as you have described. You may need soil tests to see if it is and it is important not to use fertiliser especially fertilizers high in nitrogen as this will just feed the phythopera root rot. Reducing the top will not help in this case and could possibly hasten the tree's decline as the tree will be using its resources on two fronts

. I have given you a couple of strategies but without knowing the land and tropography and the soil they are on suggestions. Also have a look what is happening on neighbouring orchards.

Let us know how it goes. Best of Luck

[thaipod]

Thanks for the feed back . The land is a canal orchard ( suan thong rong ) in Talingchan, but due to the flooding the land has been under water for about a month which cannot be pumped as the canal and surrounding areas are also about 30 cm under and I can't imagine the soil will get to the dry out stage for at least 3-4 weeks , by then I suspect I will loose all the trees .

[xen]

Thanks for the feed back . The land is a canal orchard ( suan thong rong ) in Talingchan, but due to the flooding the land has been under water for about a month which cannot be pumped as the canal and surrounding areas are also about 30 cm under and I can't imagine the soil will get to the dry out stage for at least 3-4 weeks , by then I suspect I will loose all the trees .

I wish i knew what else you could do but it will be 8 or 9 weeks under water and that does does not look good. All the same when the water goes down i would get some soil tests done to see if Phythopera or or Pythium is present and that will influence what you do with the land in the future.