Deciduous Tree Chinese Tallow: Sapling Prices, Transplanting Time, and Nursery and Afforestation Techniques

Chinese tallow tree, also known as wax tree, tallowtree, and wood tallow tree, is a deciduous tree in the genus Triadica (formerly Sapium) of the Euphorbiaceae family. It is a colorful-leaved species whose foliage turns brilliant red in spring and autumn, matching the red maple. So how much does a Chinese tallow tree sapling cost per plant? When should it be transplanted? What are the seedling-raising and afforestation techniques? According to seedling grower Uncle Fang, Chinese tallow trees are always planted in spring from March to April, and can also be planted in summer.

How much does a Chinese tallow tree sapling cost per plant?

When should Chinese tallow tree saplings be transplanted?

1. Lifting and grading seedlings

When lifting seedlings, dig a ring-shaped trench around the seedling to expose its root system, then lift the seedling with a shovel. Chinese tallow has strong vitality; if planted locally, the seedlings need not be lifted with soil, but for garden planting it is best to lift and plant them immediately. Keep the root system as intact as possible, with the main root about 25 cm long. Grafted Chinese tallow seedlings can be divided into 3 grades. Seedlings over 150 cm tall with a ground diameter greater than 1.5 cm are grade-one seedlings. Seedlings 100-150 cm tall with a ground diameter of 1.0-1.5 cm are grade-two seedlings, and seedlings 70-100 cm tall with a ground diameter of 0.6-1.0 cm are grade-three seedlings. Planting seedlings of different grades separately makes management easier. After lifting, if they cannot be planted in time, they should be heeled in immediately. Once the seedlings are ready, a suitable plot can be chosen for planting.

2. Site selection and land preparation

Chinese tallow has particularly strong soil adaptability. For mountain afforestation or shelterbelt establishment, it can grow on red loam in low hills and hills, yellow loam on mountain land, or saline-alkali land with a salt content below 0.3%. As long as the soil pH is between 5 and 8, it will do.

3. Composting fertilizer

Before digging the planting holes, we need to prepare the fertilizer first. Chinese tallow trees prefer organic fertilizer as a base fertilizer. We prepare 1000 kg of farmyard organic fertilizer, add 100 kg of superphosphate, and it is even better to mix in 20 kg of lime. Mix and stir these fertilizers evenly. After mixing, cover with plastic film and compost for fermentation for 10 days. Once composted, the planting holes can be dug.

4. Digging holes

Before digging the holes, we mark out the planting holes and measure the dimensions. The afforestation density is 3 m between plants and 4 m between rows. After measuring, dig the holes. The planting holes are generally square, with a depth of 60-70 cm. The topsoil and subsoil are required to be kept separate and stacked in order, with a width and length of 80-100 cm. Once the planting holes are dug, base fertilizer is applied next.

5. Applying base fertilizer and planting

Before planting, apply the prepared fertilizer at the bottom of the hole. We prepare 20-30 kg of fertilizer for each planting hole, then backfill the subsoil in order and mix evenly. After filling with soil, apply fertilizer a second time and backfill soil and mix evenly. When the backfilled soil is 5-10 cm from the ground surface, place the seedling in. At this point another person is needed to hold the seedling upright. The person holding the seedling lifts it upward a little, then covers it with soil, which helps the root system expand as it grows. A circular tree basin, high around the edges and low in the middle, should also be built on the planting hole to make watering-in easier. This watering-in must be thorough. Water each seedling with 50 kg of water. Water again three days later. Because the Chinese tallow tree is large, when planting it in gardens, about 30 plants per mu is generally most suitable. If intercropping, 15 plants per mu is enough.

What are the seedling-raising and afforestation techniques for Chinese tallow trees?

1. Sowing and seedling raising

(1) Nursery site selection. Choose a plot with gentle terrain, deep soil, loose and fertile soil, good drainage, and ample sunlight as the nursery site. For mountain nurseries, a gentle slope with good water and fertilizer conditions can be chosen, and the land prepared into beds along the contour lines.

(2) Land preparation and bed making. In the winter of the previous year, deep-plow once, and while preparing the land, apply 30-45 kg/hm2 of ferrous sulfate to disinfect the soil. To control underground pests, 15 kg/hm2 of carbofuran can be used for soil treatment. At the same time, apply 15 t/hm2 of decomposed farmyard manure as base fertilizer. After plowing and harrowing, make east-west oriented raised beds, with the seedbed 15-20 cm high and 1.2 m wide.

(3) Seed treatment. Chinese tallow seeds mature between October and November. When the dark brown fruit husks split open naturally and expose the white seeds, they can be harvested. After harvesting, the fruit is threshed, cleaned of debris, sun-dried, and stored dry. The outer coat of Chinese tallow seeds is waxy, making water absorption and germination difficult, so degreasing treatment is needed before sowing. The method is to put the seeds in a container and soak them in 50-60°C hot water with laundry detergent added, stirring while pouring the water. Let it cool naturally, then soak for another 24 h. Once the waxy outer layer of the seeds softens, rub and wash off the waxy outer coat, then rinse the seeds clean. Before sowing, disinfect the seeds by soaking them in 0.5% potassium permanganate for 2 h. Spring sowing must be preceded by sprouting; autumn and winter sowing need not be sprouted.

(4) Sowing. Generally, sowing is mostly done in spring and autumn; to avoid the busy farming season, it can also be done in winter. When sowing, open sowing furrows 10 cm wide perpendicular to the direction of the seedbed, with a furrow spacing of 20-25 cm and a plant spacing of 10 cm, and sow in hills, or broadcast. The sowing rate is 112.5 kg/hm2, and after sowing cover with 1-2 cm of soil.

(5) Emergence and seedling-stage management. After sowing, strengthen water management in the nursery. With spring sowing, seedlings emerge in about 50-75 d. During seedling growth, strengthen intertillage and weeding, generally 3-4 times a year. When the seedlings reach 10 cm tall, promptly thin, finalize, and fill in gaps according to the required plant and row spacing. At the same time, strengthen tending measures such as fertilization, irrigation, and pest and disease control to promote robust seedling growth. Generally, seedlings can reach 60-100 cm tall in the same year, producing 180,000-225,000 seedlings per hm2. After leaf fall in autumn, they can be lifted and used for afforestation.

2. Grafting and seedling raising

(1) Scion collection. Select one- to two-year-old robust fruiting branches from the middle-upper part of the crown of superior-variety mother trees as scions, and use one- to two-year-old seedling trees as rootstock, with a thickness of more than 1 cm being preferable. In the southern Shaanxi region, the main Chinese tallow cultivars are grape tallow and chicken-claw tallow. Collect scions in early spring, seal them with wax, and store them in sand in a cool indoor place. (2) Grafting and post-grafting management. The cut-grafting method is commonly used. When grafting, cut the rootstock off 5 cm above the ground and smooth the cut surface; then cut the scion into 3-5 cm pieces with more than 2 plump buds. Cut one side of the scion into a slant about 2.5 cm long, and cut a small slant at the tip of the opposite side at a 45° angle, 0.8-1.0 cm long. Then make a vertical cut about 3 cm long on the smooth side of the rootstock, reaching the xylem, insert the large slant of the scion inward into the rootstock cut, align the cambium layers of the two (if the rootstock cut is larger than the scion cut, at least one side of the cambium should fit closely), and finally bind with plastic strips. Spring is the best time for grafting, usually carried out around the Awakening of Insects solar term. After the graft survives and sprouts, keep only 1 sturdy new shoot and remove the rest, and promptly clear away sprouts on the rootstock.

3. Afforestation techniques

(1) Choose a good afforestation site. Chinese tallow likes light and a warm climate and deep, fertile soil, and has a certain tolerance to drought, waterlogging, and wind, can withstand intermittent flooding, and is often planted at field edges and beside streams, and can also be planted in wind-sheltered spots in mountainous areas. It has a wide range of soil adaptability and can grow on sandy loam, clay loam, and gravelly loam, and can adapt to acidic soil, calcareous soil, and saline-alkali land with a salt content below 0.25%. Chinese tallow can send out 3 flushes of shoots a year, has a well-developed main root, strong wind resistance, and fast growth.

(2) Chinese tallow seedlings can grow to about 1 m tall in the same year, with a diameter varying from 0.5 to 1 cm. Planting should be done row by row, with a row spacing of 40 cm. In the second spring, cut them off 10 cm above the root; after stumping, they can grow to more than 2 m in the same year, and the trunk is straight. After stumping, fertilize and manage diligently.

(3) Plant for one year, stump for one year, and from the third year begin transplanting separately, setting the plant and row spacing according to the sales plan. Cultivating high-quality Chinese tallow seedlings takes 5-8 years; the time is long but the returns are high. At present, there are not many top-quality Chinese tallow seedlings available for purchase, so developing them now has great prospects. Pests include the larvae of the camphor silk moth, the slug moth, and the large bagworm moth, which eat leaves and tender branches; pay attention to controlling them.