What Fertilizer Makes Pomelo Sweetest and When to Bag Pomelo
Pomelo is a very common fruit in daily life; not only is its taste fresh and its texture excellent, but most importantly its nutritional value is very high, and eating it in moderation can bring benefits to people's health. Pomelo is grown relatively widely in the southern regions of our country, but there are still quite a few people who do not know much about pomelo cultivation techniques. The following will introduce them in detail.
What Fertilizer Makes Pomelo Sweetest
1. Apply more calcium and potassium fertilizer
According to research, the calcium content in the soil is related to the acid content of honey pomelo. Calcium can not only neutralize the organic acids inside the honey pomelo, but also increase the weight of a single fruit. The soil for Pinghe honey pomelo is mostly red loam, with a pH generally less than 5.0, and the soil is commonly deficient in calcium. Potassium fertilizer can increase photosynthesis and increase carbohydrates, and has a great effect on improving the sweetness of honey pomelo.
2. Do not apply chemical fertilizer in a one-sided way
Applying large amounts of chemical nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer: nitrogen can promote vegetative growth, delay fruit coloring, make the color lighter, and thicken the peel, so applying too much nitrogen is not conducive to increasing sweetness.
3. Apply more organic fertilizer.
In honey pomelo production, apply more organic fertilizer. Various organic fertilizers (barnyard manure, compost, waterlogged manure, straw, green manure, cake fertilizer) can not only promptly supplement part of the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium needed for honey pomelo growth, but also supplement medium and trace elements such as magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, and molybdenum. They can further improve soil acidity and bulk density, increase fertilizer use efficiency, prevent or correct nutrient deficiency symptoms in honey pomelo, and improve soil fertility, thereby increasing its sweetness.
4. Change ”winter fertilizer” to ”fruit-drop fertilizer”
Pomelo growers are accustomed to applying base fertilizer in winter. In winter, when the temperature is low, honey pomelo enters the dormant period; no matter how much fertilizer is applied, the honey pomelo cannot absorb it. The nutrients are not supplemented, and the fertilizer is wasted. Base fertilizer mainly based on organic fertilizer should be applied in autumn after picking. The autumn temperature is relatively higher, which makes it easy for organic fertilizer to ferment and decompose, and is conducive to the decomposition, transformation, and continuous release of nutrients from organic fertilizer.
When to Bag Pomelo
1. Bagging is carried out after fruit setting (about early to mid-May).
2. For the fruit-preserving bag, on the night before bagging, wet about 5 parts of the bag opening.
3. After it is completely softened, shake off the excess water from the bag opening, place the bags upright in bundles with the openings facing up, and cover them with a wet cloth.
4. Before bagging, spraying must be carried out once to prevent disease and control pests, and bagging begins after the spray dries. Bagging should be completed within 2 days; trees not completed must be sprayed again.
5. Bagging needs to be combined with fruit thinning, with only one fruit per paper bag.
6. When bagging, twist the opening aluminum wire tight to avoid the entry of moisture, pathogens, and pests.
What Are the Benefits of Bagging Pomelo
1. Reduce the number of pesticide sprays and save pesticide expenses
From spraying before bagging in June and July to the completion of pomelo harvest in October, the number of sprays can be reduced by 3 to 4 times, saving pesticide costs and spraying work, and also reducing environmental pollution.
2. Reduce pesticide residues and produce pollution-free fruit
From spraying pesticides before bagging to the end of harvest in October, bagged orchards do not need to spray pesticides again, there is no pesticide residue, and the fruit can meet the standards for pollution-free food.
3. Prevent insects and disease and improve quality
Comparing bagged fruit with unbagged fruit: bagged fruit has a bright and uniform surface, uniform peel coloring, diseased and insect-damaged fruit within 8%, sunscald and fruit cracking rates within 3%, and no “fruit borer” damage was found. In contrast, under repeated pesticide applications, unbagged fruit had 25% diseased and insect-damaged fruit, 12% sunscald and fruit cracking, and a 30% damage rate from “fruit borer” (fruit fly); in some seriously affected orchards, “fruit borer” damage reached more than 85%.
What to Pay Attention to After Bagging Pomelo
1. Within 15d after bagging, pest and disease control work needs to be done again, mainly targeting scale insects and rust mites.
2. After bagging, check more for the occurrence of pests and diseases, and regularly (10d) open the bags for inspection to avoid some pests and diseases having already occurred before bagging and then harming the fruit.
3. After pomelo bagging, the fruit grows very quickly and needs to absorb more nutrients. Therefore, after bagging, attention should also be paid to fertilizer and water management to ensure that the needs of honey pomelo growth can be met. In early June and July, apply fruit-strengthening fertilizer to honey pomelo (mainly compound fertilizer of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
4. After bagging, targeted control measures need to be taken according to the characteristics of different pests and diseases. During the control process, pesticides with high toxicity or high agricultural residues must absolutely not be used, to avoid affecting the fruit.
During the growth period of pomelo, proper fertilization is very helpful for its growth. Moreover, when it reaches a certain stage of growth, it is best to bag the pomelo, which not only reduces insect damage but also reduces pesticide expenses.