Russian summer residents have been urged to bury rotten fallen apples in their garden plots to avoid damaging soil quality and harming neighboring crops.
Agronomist and biologist Mikhail Vorobyov outlined the disposal guidelines for excess windfall fruit in comments reported by Russian news outlet Vzglyad on Thursday.
Vorobyov advised gardeners against placing fallen fruit into standard compost heaps. He explained that rotting apples increase the concentration of organic acids in the compost, creating significant risks for many cultivated plants.
Instead of composting, Vorobyov recommended burying the windfall apples in a quiet corner of the garden. He said the fruit would decompose naturally in the soil without causing damage to the surrounding earth or adjacent crops.
In Russia, millions of urban residents spend weekends and summer months at traditional country plots known as dachas. Harvesting fruit trees is a staple of dacha culture, but late summer appledrops frequently produce large volumes of rotting fruit. Acidic compost can alter soil pH levels, hindering plant growth and damaging delicate root systems.
Managing Garden Pests and Ecosystems
For gardeners who prefer not to bury decaying fruit on their land, Vorobyov suggested taking the fallen apples beyond the boundaries of the plot and scattering them across the ground in a thin layer.
Addressing concerns about garden pests, Vorobyov said flies, wasps, and other insects required food to survive, making their arrival unavoidable. He recommended keeping the scattered fruit feeding area as far away from the main garden as possible.
Vorobyov emphasized that insects were an integral part of the local ecosystem and should not be eliminated entirely, noting that fallen apples served as a natural food source for them.
The guidance follows previous recommendations given to Russian gardeners urging them to refrain from growing oversized vegetables. Experts previously warned that giant vegetables often taste worse and carry fewer nutrients than standard-sized produce.
