How to Grow Rambutan? Detailed Explanation of Planting Techniques and Precautions
As for the rambutan fruit, everyone is surely familiar with it. It is a tropical fruit with a very beautiful appearance, somewhat similar in look to the lychee. Rambutan has very high nutritional value and edible value, and is a fruit that people greatly love in daily life. However, since rambutan is a tropical fruit, its distribution in our country is currently rather limited, and growing it also has certain requirements.
How to Grow Rambutan
1. Seed selection: This is when rambutan has harvested its first batch of ripe red fruit; the seeds left after eating the flesh are used for sowing.
2. Washing the seeds: After seed selection comes washing the seeds, that is, manually rubbing the sugar off the seeds in clean water.
3. Making a sand bed: The sand bed is built on the ground in front of or behind the house, preferably in a shaded spot. Coarse river sand should be used, because river sand is good for sprouting.
4. Germination: Seed germination can be carried out on both sunny and rainy days. Place the seeds on the sand bed with the eye facing down, then press them firmly. This makes sprouting easier and faster.
5. Sand bed management: The germination period is roughly 15-20 days. During this time, keep the sand bed moist at all times; too dry or too wet is not good for germination. On sunny days, water 1-2 times a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Moisture is the standard. On rainy days, pay attention to drainage to avoid the seeds rotting.
Rambutan Planting Techniques and Precautions
I. Planting techniques
1. Temperature
It likes high temperatures and high humidity, no wind damage, and low-altitude mountain environments. An annual average temperature above 24°C, with the coldest month's temperature higher than 17°C, is suitable for the growth and development of rambutan. Rambutan seedlings are not drought-tolerant and need appropriately increased water management. Water is most needed during the fruit development period. Therefore, the annual rainfall in the cultivation area is required to be above 1800 mm.
2. Soil
The soil should preferably have a deep soil layer, be rich in organic matter, fertile and loose, and have good drainage and aeration. The soil pH should be between 4.5-6.5. Alluvial soil is the best; alluvial soil refers to soil developed on river alluvium, generally with a shorter soil-forming time, indistinct development horizons, and relatively high soil fertility.
3. Water and fertilizer
In the first month after transplanting the young shoots, water once a day at a fixed time, just enough to keep moist; water whenever the soil surface looks dry. In the second month, when the seedlings put out their first flush of new leaves, weed the nutrient bags and loosen the soil between the rows. Take care not to damage the roots when weeding. As for fertilizer, apply a light water-soluble fertilizer once a month.
II. Precautions
During the seedling stage, rambutan is mainly harmed by tussock moths feeding on the leaves. If the number of insects is small, manual killing is best. If the affected area is relatively large, you can choose 38% emamectin benzoate-phoxim EC at 800-1500 times dilution as an insecticide; one spray is enough to see results.
How Rambutan Propagates
Rambutan generally has two methods of propagation: vegetative propagation and seedling propagation. Comparatively speaking, seedling propagation bears fruit relatively late, and the quality is uneven, with fairly large differences in quality. Moreover, its seedling trees are dioecious fruit trees, among which males account for 34.2%, which is very unfavorable for the regionalization of improved varieties. Therefore, we usually use the two vegetative propagation methods of air layering and grafting.
Differences Between Rambutan and Lychee
1. Appearance
Rambutan originates from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and other places, and is now grown in Hainan, China. Its shell has many red hairs, which is why it is called rambutan, and it enjoys the reputation of the king of tropical fruits. Lychee comes from the southern regions of China; it is a subtropical fruit tree and an evergreen arbor. The lychee peel has scale-like protrusions, and the color is bright red or purplish red. The flesh is semi-transparent and curd-like.
2. How to eat
Rambutan has a relatively hard protective membrane outside its stone; this membrane is not edible, whereas lychee does not require this attention and can be eaten in big mouthfuls.
3. Taste
Once peeled, rambutan looks very much like lychee, but the taste is different; compared with each other, lychee is sweeter while rambutan tastes milder.
4. Effects
Lychee is sour and sweet in taste. It enters the spleen, heart and liver meridians, can stop diarrhea, has a particularly good therapeutic effect on hiccups, and plays a very good dietary therapy role. It can also strengthen the stomach and benefit the spleen, strengthen the body and nourish the brain, and can enhance one's appetite. It can also relieve symptoms such as forgetfulness and nervous fatigue.
Rambutan is sweet in taste and warm in nature; it can beautify and nourish the hair, regulate qi and nourish blood, and strengthen and nourish. It is rich in iron, which is very helpful for patients with dizziness or low blood pressure. It can also remove wrinkles and beautify the skin, and is especially effective at removing stretch marks.
Rambutan has very high nutritional value and health benefits; eating it regularly can beautify the face, improve the body's immunity, and bring many benefits to the body. In addition, rambutan is a tropical tree with great economic value, and places suitable for growing it can give it more consideration.