Orchard Care in Punjab for October 2026: Guava, Citrus, Mango, Date Palm and Grapes

Punjab's Agriculture Department has set this month's orchard jobs: water guava every 15 days and keep fruit fly traps up, give citrus one irrigation and plan sales of early fruit, finish mango pruning, and spray date palm cuts with chlorpyrifos at 5 ml a litre against the red palm weevil.

October is a quiet month in most Punjab orchards, which is exactly why jobs get skipped. Guava is setting its winter crop, early citrus is turning colour, and mango trees are finishing their last flush of growth. The list below comes from the October 2026 orchard calendar in the department's farm advisory for 16 to 31 October. We read the Urdu original on 20 October 2026 and set it out here in plain English, one fruit at a time.

Guava needs water every 15 days and fruit fly traps

The department says guava is still flowering and starting to set fruit in October. Keep watering every 15 days, and keep sex pheromone traps hung against fruit fly. Graft new plants now if you missed September, and cover each graft with polythene.

A sex pheromone trap is a small box or bottle with a lure that draws male fruit flies in. Fewer males means fewer eggs in the fruit. The trap does not need spraying, which makes it the cheapest protection a guava grower has.

The calendar also says to run a plough between the trees to clear weeds. But it warns that guava roots stay near the surface, so do not plough deep. A deep plough cuts the feeder roots, and the tree pays for it in fruit size.

Citrus gets one irrigation and an early sales plan

For kinnow, oranges and other citrus, the calendar says some varieties are ripening and others are changing colour. Give one irrigation this month. Carry on grafting new plants, cut off shoots growing from the trunk, and arrange sale of early-ripening fruit now.

Trunk shoots, often called suckers, take water and food from the main tree without giving fruit worth picking. Cut them close to the trunk. The early sales advice is practical: early fruit fetches its price only if a buyer is ready on the day it is picked.

Thal district growers planning new citrus blocks can check the Thal farm subsidy for drip irrigation and citrus before they buy plants.

Mango pruning should be finished this month

The calendar says mango trees are at their last growth stage. Complete pruning, and give the final weedkiller spray. Irrigate only until 15 October, and only if the weather stays dry. Paint the trunks with Bordeaux mixture paste.

Bordeaux mixture is an old copper and lime fungicide. Painted on the trunk, it protects bark wounds left by pruning. The calendar's last mango tip is to contact a laboratory for soil and leaf analysis. Punjab runs a mobile soil and water lab in 15 districts, which is the easy route for a small grower.

Date palm offshoots need chlorpyrifos at 5 ml a litre

October is planting time for date palms in Punjab. The calendar says to plant new palms and to separate offshoots from the mother tree and set them in a nursery. Spray chlorpyrifos at 5 ml a litre of water against the red palm weevil, and seal cuts with wet clay.

1. Choose healthy offshoots growing from the base of the mother palm.
2. Cut them away cleanly and plant them in a nursery bed.
3. Spray the cut area with chlorpyrifos mixed at 5 ml in each litre of water.
4. Seal the wounds on the mother palm with wet clay.
5. Keep watering the nursery and the orchard through the month.

The red palm weevil lays its eggs in fresh wounds, and the grubs then eat the palm from inside. That is why the cut, not the whole tree, is the target. Wear gloves and a mask when you mix chlorpyrifos, and buy it only from a licensed dealer. If a bottle looks fake, you can report fake pesticide in Punjab.

Grapes slow down in October, so finish new planting

For grapes, the calendar says plant growth slows down this month. Watch the vines closely and finish any new vineyard planting work at once. Water by the weather, rain and soil type rather than on a fixed schedule.

The soil part matters. Heavy soil holds water longer, so a vine on clay needs less than one on sand after the same rain. The calendar leaves fertiliser blank for every fruit this month, so do not feed trees just because it is a new month.

For weather that might change a spray day or an irrigation, the PMD offers a free farm weather advisory by tehsil.

Common questions

How often should guava be watered in October in Punjab?

Every 15 days, according to the Punjab Agriculture Department's October calendar.

What should citrus growers do in October?

Give one irrigation, keep grafting, cut shoots growing from the trunk and arrange sale of early-ripening fruit.

When should mango irrigation stop in October?

The calendar says irrigate until 15 October, and only if the weather is dry.

How do I protect date palms from the red palm weevil?

After separating offshoots, spray chlorpyrifos at 5 ml a litre of water and seal the wounds with wet clay.

Do fruit trees need fertiliser in October?

The calendar lists no fertiliser for guava, citrus, mango, date palm or grapes in October.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the "October Calendar 2026" for fruit orchards in the Punjab Agriculture Department's farm advisory for 16 to 31 October 2026, listed on its crop advisory page, on 20 October 2026. It is a scanned Urdu table, which we read and translated ourselves. It gives no doses for weedkillers and names no fruit varieties. We could not check local prices of chlorpyrifos or pheromone traps.