What are the precautions for growing Chinese lantern (gooseberry fruit)?
Chinese lantern, also called gooseberry fruit, hairy groundcherry, and so on, is a fruit that combines both food and medicinal uses, with a very high vitamin content and excellent flavor. So, what precautions are there for growing Chinese lantern? Let's find out together!
1. Site selection
The gooseberry fruit has a very strong life force, so wild gooseberry fruit can be seen everywhere in the countryside. The gooseberry fruit has no strict requirements for soil; it is characterized by strong adaptability and stress resistance. However, when cultivated artificially, it is still best to choose fertile soil, loose texture, and well-drained sandy soil as the most suitable. When planting, more farmyard manure should be applied, and it can be applied directly in the old furrows. But if the fertilizer quality is poor and the amount is insufficient, it will directly affect the later yield of the gooseberry fruit. Therefore, different land preparation methods should still be chosen according to the condition of the land. Although the methods differ, the soil still needs to be finely worked, and sufficient base fertilizer should be applied, with the base fertilizer best being mainly farmyard manure.
2. Propagation
After planting, the future propagation issue must be considered. The gooseberry fruit is generally cultivated artificially by vegetative propagation using rhizomes, because the rhizome propagation method has a series of advantages such as fast propagation and easy seedling retention. The rhizomes of the gooseberry fruit have many adventitious buds. Generally, around Qingming Festival, rhizomes free of diseases and insect pests are selected as “planting stock”, cut into small sections of 10cm, and each small section should retain about 2-3 adventitious buds. They are sown in drills in furrows to prevent wind penetration, and the soil should be raked evenly. In this way, they can grow continuously for 4-5 years.
3. Seedling stage management
Every crop must undergo thinning during the planting process, and the gooseberry fruit is no exception. The thinning principle for the gooseberry fruit is “sparse on fertile land, dense on poor land.” Pay attention to intertillage and weeding. About half a month after planting, seedlings begin to emerge. After emergence, weeds in the surrounding garden should be removed. When the seedlings grow to about 10 cm tall, carry out the second thinning, complete the third in July, and during the rainy season pay attention to drainage, apply more agricultural machinery fertilizer, appropriately irrigate and drain the orchard, keep the soil moist, and increase the final yield. After the seedlings recover, water and topdress appropriately according to the fertility of the soil and the growth condition to promote root development.
4. Harvesting
There is also technique to the harvesting time of the gooseberry fruit. The gooseberry fruit will fall off automatically after ripening, and at this time it can be harvested by manual picking, which is when the quality of the gooseberry fruit is the best. After ripening, the persistent calyx outside the fruit becomes withered and yellow, and the fruit also shows a light yellow color with a very strong fragrance. However, if the fruit is not ripe enough, the taste is poor. At this time, ripening treatment should be carried out promptly. The fruit can be sprayed with ethephon and then piled up until it is fully ripened. If the fruit needs to be transported or stored, the calyx should be retained.
The above are the precautions for growing gooseberry fruit. I hope they can help all growers!