How to Grow Prunes? Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Precautions

SummaryOrchard establishment: plant at a spacing of 2 by 3 m between plants and rows, and after planting, cut back the main stem to leave 40-50 cm. Training: mainly divided into three types - natural open-center, delayed open-center (spaced-tiered heart-shaped), and multi-leader heart-shaped. During full bloom, tap the flowering branches with gauze cotton balls for artificial supplementary pollination. Usually strengthen water and fertilizer management, actively prevent and control pests and diseases, thin fruit in time to reduce nutrient loss, and harvest at the right time to ensure quality.

The prune is a distinctive fruit native to California in the United States, also known as the California plum. As people learned more about prunes, they became familiar with their rich nutritional value, and thus prunes gradually spread to different countries and regions. Many people know about the prune's powerful effects and its many ways of being eaten. But many people do not understand how it is grown.

I. How to Grow Prunes

1. Orchard establishment: plant at a spacing of 2x3 m between plants and rows, and after planting, cut back the main stem to leave 40-50 cm.

2. Artificial pollination to reduce physiological fruit drop: collect flower buds at the beginning of bloom, gather pollen, and pollinate by hand. You can also tap the flowering branches with gauze cotton balls during full bloom for artificial supplementary pollination.

3. Strengthen water and fertilizer management, and prevent and control pests and diseases.

4. Thin fruit in time to reduce nutrient loss.

5. Summer management: promptly remove rootstock sprouts; after selecting the main branches, bend, pull, and thin out the other branches; in May and June, when new shoots exceed 30 cm, pinch them back to the mature leaves; pull the main branches to 60 degrees and the auxiliary branches to 80 degrees; thin branches in July.

6. Harvest at the right time to ensure quality.

II. Prune Planting Methods and Precautions

1. Orchard establishment

Before planting, first determine the spacing of the prunes; a distance of about 2 m x 3 m is best, so that they do not compete with each other for nutrients and the distribution of sunlight is more even.

2. Training

(1) Natural open-center: cut out branches that have already been damaged, small branches that have not yet fully grown, and unnecessary buds. This operation is easy to understand: if diseased branches are not removed, they easily affect the surrounding area, and places that are too dense also affect the distribution of nutrients. At the same time, how far back to cut can be decided according to the different varieties planted. There is no strict requirement for this.

(2) Delayed open-center (spaced-tiered heart-shaped): make the whole tree into a semicircular shape, which not only gives good air flow but also allows it to live for a long time. It has high yield, an ideal load, takes shape relatively quickly, bears fruit early, and is simple to train. The whole tree can retain 5 to 6 main branches, cut off the central leader, and manage it in tiers. This is also a relatively common choice.

(3) Multi-leader heart-shaped: it can prevent and reduce splitting, and the fruit produced is no longer flat. The tree itself is sturdier and lives longer. The three main branches can be arranged in a staggered way, echoing the trunk, with a good load and resistance to splitting. The main branches naturally extend outward, with two side branches attached on both sides, and the primary and secondary branches are very distinct.

3. Artificial pollination

This method is to personally spread the plant's pollen, which can increase the amount of fruit and reduce physiological fruit drop. During flowering, collect pollen by hand and pollinate by hand.

4. Precautions

During this period, attention must also be paid to the control of water and fertilizer. If this aspect is not handled well, even the best preparation work will be wasted.

II. How Much Does a Jin of Prunes Cost

1. Prunes are divided into imported prunes and domestic prunes. The price of imported prunes is above 50 yuan, and the price of domestic prunes is 10-30 yuan per jin.

2. Imported prunes have to undergo long-distance transportation and so on, so they are relatively rare, and naturally the price is higher.

3. Domestic prunes are mainly produced in Xinjiang, and the price is slightly lower.

III. Why Are Prunes So Expensive

1. The main reason prunes are expensive is that they are an imported fruit.

2. The prune originates from southwestern France and was later introduced to California in North America. In China, foreign fruits are generally rather expensive, so imported prunes being expensive is only natural.

3. Another reason prunes are expensive is that they are very rare, because growing prunes requires choosing a good environment: too hot is no good, and too cold is no good. Too much water is no good, and too little is no good. Soil that is too alkaline is no good, and too acidic is no good. So there are very few regions where they can be grown and produce a high yield. This is also the reason why things are precious when they are rare.

4. Prunes have high nutritional value, which also makes the price generally rather high. Prunes are rich in vitamin A, potassium, iron, vitamin C, juice, and so on. Eating them can promote bone growth. The potassium contained in prunes is especially important for maintaining muscle elasticity and keeping the human body's electrolyte balance. The vitamin C in prunes can help human development, so eating more prunes is still very beneficial.

Although prunes are currently fairly common in our country's market, because the price of prunes is higher than that of ordinary fruits, not everyone can eat them often. If you learn how to grow them, why not plant them yourself?