What are the key cultivation techniques for red-fleshed honey pomelo?
Red-fleshed honey pomelo is a very popular fruit in recent years, and quite a few farmer friends are growing it. So what are the key cultivation points for red-fleshed honey pomelo? Below, the Tuliu.com editor will share them with everyone.
1. Planting method
The planting density varies with the terrain. For mountainous land, the row and plant spacing is 3×3.5 m, with 55 plants per mu. For flat land, the row and plant spacing is 3.5×4 m, with 50 plants per mu.
2. Reasonable fertilization
For young trees, nitrogen fertilizer should be the main type, combined with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. The principle of fertilization is to apply thin fertilizer frequently, applying a shoot-promoting fertilizer before each flush of growth and a shoot-strengthening fertilizer after the flush emerges. Adult trees are fertilized 3~4 times per year. The fruit-picking fertilizer (winter fertilizer) should be applied completely within 7~10 days before or after harvest, accounting for 40%~-60% of the annual fertilization amount; the sprouting fertilizer (spring fertilizer) is applied around the end of January, accounting for 15%~25% of the annual fertilization amount; the fruit-strengthening fertilizer (summer-autumn fertilizer) is generally applied 10~15 days after physiological fruit drop stops and before the autumn shoots sprout, accounting for 20%-40% of the annual fertilization amount.
3. Shaping and pruning
For young trees, pruning should emphasize “bud rubbing and shoot control” and grasp the principle of “removing early ones and keeping uniform ones, removing few and keeping many.” When most of the terminal shoots on the whole plant have 3~4 new shoots emerging, stop rubbing off shoots. Properly thin out excessively dense branches and shoots, and cut off all winter shoots. For trees that have just begun bearing fruit, attention should be paid to cultivating short, strong spring shoots and autumn shoots, rubbing off summer shoots and winter shoots, thinning out upright branches, keeping slanting branches, or bending branches. For adult trees in full fruiting stage, promptly retract fruiting branch groups, flower-and-fruit-dropping branch groups, and declining branch groups, and cut off dead branches and diseased or pest-damaged branches. For trees with too many scaffold branches and severe canopy closure, the large-branch pruning method can be used, sawing off the central upright large scaffold branches to open a “skylight” and let light into the inner canopy (sawing large branches is best done in spring). For the vegetative shoots of summer and autumn shoots grown in the current year, regulate the next year's yield by heading back or thinning; for leafless branch groups, on the basis of heavy thinning, most or all shoots should be headed back. Tree height should be controlled below 3 m. Form a natural open-center shape, with a trunk height of 20-40 cm, and 3~4 main branches distributed in a staggered manner on the trunk. The branching angle of the main branches is 30~45°, with 2~3 secondary main branches arranged on each main branch, and an appropriate number of lateral branches arranged on the main branches and secondary main branches.
4. Flower and fruit management
To promote flower bud differentiation, girdling can be carried out in early to mid-September, with the girdling width controlled at 0.1~0.2 cm and reaching the xylem as appropriate. For fruiting mother branches, first thin the inflorescences and then thin the buds at the flower bud stage, removing the top and tail and keeping the middle, thinning out weak flowers and keeping 2~3 strong flowers, and removing early summer shoots. After physiological fruit drop in early May, retain the fruit load according to tree vigor in 2~3 rounds, keep the fruit evenly distributed, and remove diseased, pest-damaged, and deformed fruit.
5. Suitable planting areas
It can generally be planted in areas suitable for citrus, but the minimum winter temperature must not be lower than -8C. Mountainous areas and areas with better drainage conditions are more suitable.
Alright, the above are the key cultivation points for red-fleshed honey pomelo brought to you by the Tuliu.com editor. We hope they are helpful to everyone. Friends who like it are welcome to follow Tuliu.com. See you next time.