Shatian Pomelo Cultivation Techniques and Shatian Pomelo Pest and Disease Control Methods

It is once again the season for eating lots of pomelo, and pomelo has a great many beneficial effects; its taste is sweet and sour and refreshing, and it is loved by many people in our daily lives. Shatian pomelo is a very popular variety in daily life, and eating it in moderation is very beneficial. But what about the cultivation techniques for this fruit? Let us take a look together below.

Shatian Pomelo Cultivation Techniques

1. Orchard site construction: For Shatian pomelo, a site with deep, loose, fertile soil and an ample water source must be chosen for the orchard. For hilly land, a gentle slope with a gradient below 20 degrees facing south with its back to the north should be chosen, and there should be a water-source forest at the top of the hill.

2. Seedling cultivation: The cultivation of Shatian pomelo seedlings includes grafting, air layering and cutting methods, but in production practice grafted seedlings are superior to layered and cut seedlings, so in current production practice grafting is mostly used to propagate pomelo seedlings, while air layering and cutting are gradually being phased out. In order to speed up the propagation of seedlings and meet the needs of developing Shatian pomelo production, rootstock seedlings should be grafted as small as possible.

3. Planting techniques: Shatian pomelo is usually planted in spring after the spring shoots have matured (April-May) and in autumn after the autumn shoots have matured. Before planting, first grade the seedlings by size, plant seedlings of the same grade together, cut off overly long roots and overly dense branches and shoots, retain 3-4 main branches, and dip the roots in mud slurry before planting. When planting, the graft union should be exposed above the soil surface, the soil around the roots should be broken up fine, and the root mass should be spread out in all directions. After covering with soil, lift the seedling slightly upward, firm it down, then cover with fine soil. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots, then water once a day for the following 7 days to ensure survival, and insert windbreak stakes and cover with grass.

4. Management of mature trees: Bearing Shatian pomelo trees have 4 main fertilization periods, namely post-harvest fertilizer, pre-flowering fertilizer, fruit-setting fertilizer and shoot-promoting fruit-sizing fertilizer. In addition, whether supplementary fertilizer is needed should be determined according to the plant's fruit load and tree vigor.

Shatian Pomelo Pest and Disease Control Methods

1. Scab

Scab mainly harms spring shoots and young fruit. When leaves first become affected, oil-soaked spots appear; the lesions expand and bulge out on one side into conical wart-like protrusions, resembling ox horns or funnels, with a rough surface.

Measures: Use disease-free seedlings. For scions and seedlings from non-disease-free nurseries and from outside, soak them for 30 minutes in a 800-fold dilution of 50% benomyl or a 800-1000-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim wettable powder.

2. Brown rot phytophthora disease

It mainly harms the fruit, and after infection causes a large amount of fruit drop. In the early stage of the disease, small light brown dots appear on the peel and take on a dark brown water-soaked appearance; the lesion area becomes soft and slightly sunken.

Strengthen management, promptly remove diseased fruit and spread quicklime powder on the orchard floor for disinfection, pay attention to digging ditches to reduce waterlogging and prevent flooding, and prune appropriately to improve ventilation and light penetration in the orchard. During the fruit growth and development period, apply fertilizer combining nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with farmyard manure to enhance resistance.

What to Do If Shatian Pomelo Only Flowers but Does Not Set Fruit

The reasons Shatian pomelo only flowers but does not set fruit are, first, lack of insect pollination, and second, boron deficiency in the soil. For lack of insect pollination, artificial pollination can be carried out; the best pollination time is 8-11 a.m. on sunny days, followed by 4-7 p.m., but the best method is to keep bees in Shatian pomelo orchards where pollinator trees have already been interplanted. For boron deficiency in the soil, some lime or borax can be applied. It is worth noting that Shatian pomelo sets fruit on shaded branches inside the canopy, so pollination of these flowers deserves even more attention.

Where Is the Producing Area of Shatian Pomelo

Shatian pomelo is a local specialty of Rong County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Because it was first planted in Shatian Village, Rong County, Guangxi, it is called Shatian pomelo. As early as the 1930s it was exported to places such as Hong Kong, China, the Nanyang region, Europe and the Americas. It has now been expanded to the Xunjiang, Longjiang, Guijiang, Lijiang and Hongshui River basins in Guangxi and other areas, and has also been introduced successively in Guangdong, Hunan, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. In 2013 Guangxi became China's largest concentrated producing region for Shatian pomelo, with a planting area of several hundred thousand mu of Shatian pomelo in the whole autonomous region.

That is all for the introduction to Shatian pomelo cultivation techniques; we hope it is helpful to everyone. The cultivation method of Shatian pomelo is not difficult, but one point to note is that if you want to increase yield, pest and disease control is very necessary.