Is the Chinese bayberry tree deciduous or evergreen? A guide to its growth habits
Chinese bayberry, also known as sheng sheng mei, bai di mei, and shu mei, has high edible and medicinal value, and its tree can also serve as a landscaping tree species. So is it deciduous or evergreen? What are its planting methods?
1. Is Chinese bayberry deciduous or evergreen?
Chinese bayberry is an evergreen tree that can reach a height of over 15 m. Its bark is gray and develops shallow longitudinal cracks when old; the crown is round and spherical. The twigs and buds are hairless, and the lenticels are usually few and inconspicuous; when young, they are covered only with round, peltate glands. It flowers every year in April and bears dark red or purplish-red fruit in June-July.
2. What are the planting methods for Chinese bayberry?
1. Site selection and orchard establishment
Choose a north-facing or northeast-facing slope with ample sunlight and high temperatures. Sandy soil is best, followed by sandy clay soil, then clay soil. When establishing the orchard, the land should be prepared; generally, land preparation uses the methods of building contour terraces, contour trenching, and fish-scale pits.
2. Timely planting
In places with winter freezing damage, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Jiangxi, spring planting is preferable, that is, planting from late February to mid-March. In warm areas without severe winter cold, autumn planting or spring planting can be used, that is, planting from early October to early December, or from mid-February to mid-March of the following year. Field planting should be carried out on cloudy days or light rainy days. Pay special attention not to plant in weather with northwest winds.
3. Reasonable density
Choose strong seedlings with pure variety, good healing between rootstock and scion, well-developed roots, fresh and vigorous plants, and no pests or diseases for field planting. Plant 15-40 Chinese bayberry trees per 667 sq m, and during planting the young trees should be about 20 cm above the ground. After field planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots. After watering, cover with a layer of loose soil and lay plastic film.
4. Training and pruning
The tree form of Chinese bayberry mostly adopts the natural open-center form. Because the terminal bud of Chinese bayberry and the 1-4 buds near it can sprout shoots that become scaffold branches or side branches, the shoots growing from the tip are all very vigorous, while the lower parts are mostly latent buds, so the crown branches very regularly. When training young trees, only light pruning is needed, and the form can be established in 5-6 years. After the form is established, in spring (April) and autumn (August-September) each year, remove dead branches, diseased and pest-damaged branches, damaged branches, useless suckers growing from roots and trunks, and crossing and tangled branches; no other special pruning is done. For aging trees, renewal of large branches should be carried out along with fertilization.
5. Flower and fruit thinning
Generally from February to mid-March, for on-year trees with excessive flower bud differentiation, evenly cut back 1/5-2/5 of the fruiting branches across the whole tree, and thin out weak, slender, and densely growing fruiting branches; at the same time, apply 0.5-1.0 kg of fast-acting nitrogen such as urea per tree to promote vegetative shoots. Fruit thinning is carried out in 2-3 rounds. The first round is about 20 days after full bloom, and the second round is 30-35 days after petal fall.
6. Pest and disease control
Canker, brown spot, dieback, scale insects, fruit flies, and moths are all common pests and diseases during Chinese bayberry cultivation, and growers should take preventive measures in advance.