How much does a palm sapling cost, when to transplant and how to plant it, and are the fruits edible?
The palm tree is an evergreen tree. Its trunk is cylindrical, often retaining old leaf stalks and the leaf bases below them. It is native to China, blooms from April to May, and its fruits ripen in October to November.So how much does a palm sapling cost? When should it be transplanted? How is it planted? And are its fruits edible? According to Mr. Li of the Nanjing nursery, a palm 0.5M tall costs 12 yuan; a palm 1m tall costs 35 yuan; a palm 1.5m tall costs 75 yuan; a palm 2M tall costs 120 yuan; a palm 2.5m tall costs 180 yuan; a palm 3m tall costs 280 yuan; actual sapling prices may fluctuate up or down depending on the time of year, market conditions, the size of the root ball, and quality grade.
When should a palm tree be transplanted?
Palm plants are best transplanted during the period after they have sprouted and rooted. At this time the seedlings are smaller and can be transplanted together with the seed; moreover, they have few fibrous roots, so the root system is not easily damaged when moving the seedlings. When raising seedlings in nutrient bags, the size depends on how long the seedlings will be grown; generally speaking, 1-year-old seedlings are best in 16 cm × 18 cm containers, and 2-year-old seedlings in 19 cm × 20 cm ones. Nutrient bags that are too small are not conducive to rapid seedling growth. The nutrient soil is prepared from loose topsoil, burned soil and wheat bran, mixed evenly in a 5:2:1 ratio with a small amount of phosphate fertilizer, then put into bags. First fill half the bag with the mixed soil, then place the seedling, then hold the seedling upright and fill the bag full and press it firm so that the seedling roots are pressed tightly against the mixed soil, then water thoroughly. Palm plants must not be planted too deep, otherwise the growth of the seedling will be affected. If planted too deep, pull the seedling upward so that its root system spreads out.
How is a palm tree planted?
Pre-planting management:
1. Choice of planting site. The palm likes a warm, humid climate, so the author chose a planting site sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, with fairly good microclimatic conditions; 2 meters to the north was a five-story building, and flowering shrubs such as lilac were planted on both the east and west sides. The soil at the planting site was sandy loam, with a pH of 8.5 and a salt content of 0.15%. Because the palm has a certain salt and alkali tolerance, no measures such as replacing the soil were taken; the bricks and other debris were simply cleared away.
2. Digging the hole and planting. The planting hole measured 100 × 100 × 80 cm. When digging, the topsoil and subsoil were piled separately, and 0.15 kg of sulfur powder was mixed into them. The bottom of the pit was lined with decomposed and fermented leaf fertilizer and cow and horse manure about 15 cm thick, with 35 cm of soil on top. The plant was placed into the pit, held upright, then backfilled with soil, tamped layer by layer, and watered, and the straw rope tied around the trunk was cut open so it could spread out naturally. Then leaf thinning was carried out, keeping only 5 to 6 leaves per plant, and finally the trunk was sprayed.
Post-planting management:
1. Watering. After planting was completed, a second watering was given on the third day and a third on the seventh day, and the leaves on the trunk were sprayed every morning and afternoon when the sunlight was strong (stopped after one month). After summer arrived, a thorough watering was given about every 30 days; watering was delayed on cloudy and rainy days; the last thorough watering was given at the end of September, and in early November the winterizing watering was given and soil was mounded around the roots. In the following years, only one green-up watering in early spring and one winterizing watering in early winter were given each year, and no special watering was done at other times, letting the plants grow on rainfall alone. Besides watering properly, standing water also had to be drained promptly on rainy days.
2. Fertilizing. Because base fertilizer was applied at planting, no additional fertilizer was applied in the first year except for one application of chicken manure combined with the winter watering before winter set in. Thereafter, chicken manure or sesame paste residue was applied once each year after the start of spring and before the onset of freezing.
3. Shading. In the summer of the planting year, the plants were shaded from mid-June to mid-September; from the second year on, no more shading was used.
4. Cold protection. Cold protection is the key factor for successful introduction. In order to let the plants overwinter safely, the methods of mounding soil around the roots, wrapping the trunk with straw rope, and covering the plant with film were adopted. Insulation was applied in mid-November of that year; after the start of spring the following year, holes were gradually punched in the film for ventilation, and after Qingming the film was removed completely. Through the above measures, all the planted palms overwintered safely with no frost damage. In the following years, no measures at all were taken in winter and they were left to overwinter naturally.
5. Pest and disease control. During the introduction process, a small amount of scale insect and scarab beetle damage was found. When the numbers are small, they can be removed by hand; when there are many, they can be killed by spraying with a 1000-fold dilution of 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate. No diseases were found during the introduction process.
Are palm tree fruits edible?
They are tasty, deep-fried, a treat for the taste buds.
When the palm flower is still in the bud stage, it looks like a fish from the outside; it is wrapped in layer upon layer of a shell resembling bamboo shoot skin, and inside are densely packed small buds, just like fish roe. The palm flower is an excellent vegetable and fruit, rich in nutrients, and has the medicinal effects of reducing inflammation, clearing internal heat and lowering blood pressure; it can be eaten raw or cooked.
Some palm flowers are bitter and some are sweet. In terms of shape, the sweet ones are broad, plump and full, while the bitter ones are round, thick and slender.
Cooking methods: stir-fried with diced meat or cured meat, stewed with chicken, or made into soup, with auxiliary ingredients of ginger, scallion white, chili and pickled vegetables. Colorful and fragrant, fresh, crisp and refreshing.