Causes of Low Yield in Century-Old Large Chestnut Trees in Xingtai County and Countermeasures

Now in many regions of our country, some century-old trees are still preserved. For example, in Xingtai County, Hebei Province, there are quite a few century-old large chestnut trees, but due to a lack of management knowledge, these large chestnut trees have now gone from strong to weak, with empty burs, too many single nuts, and yields that are too low. In order to increase yields and raise fruit growers' incomes, relevant experts investigated the causes of the low yield of large chestnut trees and proposed countermeasures. Let's take a look together below!

Causes of Low Yield in Century-Old Large Chestnut Trees in Xingtai County and Countermeasures

1 Causes of low yield

Water shortage is the main cause of the low yield of large chestnut trees. If you want the trees to yield highly, the key is to irrigate the trees with sufficient water. Trees being too tall, having too many main branches, too large a branch volume, and too weak tree vigor are the second cause of low yield.

2 Measures to increase yield and income

(1) Watering chestnut trees on dry slopes is difficult, and digging pits under the trees is a clever trick. Digging fish-scale pits with a large upper opening and a pointed bottom is good; water collects together and seeps deep;

flat-bottomed pits allow water to seep shallowly, and the effect is somewhat worse. The more pits, the denser and the deeper they are, the better the effect. For the distribution of pits, from under the tree to 1-5m beyond the tips of the branches.

(2) Pruning to rejuvenate tree vigor

The main problems in pruning century-old large chestnut trees on dry slopes:

① The trees are too tall to prune easily;

② There are too many main branches to thin out easily;

③ The main branches are too long, and the inner canopy is empty;

④ The branches are dense, with many ineffective branches and leaves.

(3) Four pruning measures

① Tall tree tops should be lowered. Determine tree height according to the surrounding environment and the strength of tree vigor. Lower the tree top, thin out large branches, and leave stubs where the inner canopy is empty to promote the growth of new branches.

② Thin out main branches. Fewer main branches means less water consumption, stronger trees, and higher yield.

③ Overly long main branches should be cut back. Light cutback for strong trees, heavy cutback for weak trees; light cutback where there is space, heavy cutback where there is no space.

④ Thin out small branches. Open the center at the top of large branches, and divide the top of each large branch into several fruiting branch groups, with about 50cm of space between adjacent branch groups.

(4) When lowering tree tops and thinning out large branches, remove at most 30%-40%, and retain at least 60%.

Thinning out too many large branches makes it easy to reduce yield and also easy to produce excessive water sprouts;

thinning out too few large branches fails to achieve the goal of strengthening the trees, and the yield still cannot go up.

The above are the key technical points for high-yield management of large chestnut trees. If you have other experiences and insights on managing these century-old trees, you can comment and leave a message below on Huinong Network!