How to Grow Mandarin Oranges (Sugar Tangerines) for Healthy, High-Quality Fruit? A Grower Shares Experience

Many regions in China grow sugar tangerines (mandarin oranges), but during cultivation they are prone to problems such as plant degeneration, short lifespan and unstable yields. So how should sugar tangerines be grown to be healthy and high-quality? Come and hear this grower's experience……

1. Buy high-quality disease-free seedlings

As the saying goes, one can see the big from the small, and citrus cultivation is the same: the quality of the seedlings directly affects the later development of the fruit trees. Seedlings are the foundation of the sugar tangerine industry, and healthy, high-quality seedlings can ensure the sustainable development of the sugar tangerine industry.

When buying seedlings, fruit growers must choose a regular institution or manufacturer to purchase certified disease-free seedlings.

Requirements for high-quality seedlings: the graft union height reaches 0.6 cm, the height reaches 50 cm, preferably with more than 3 complete branches, and a root system that is complete and undamaged.

2. Reasonable planned dense planting

Sugar tangerines have the characteristic of early high yield. The purpose of planned dense planting is to use the idle land and space in the early stage to increase the early yield of the orchard, which is about double the yield of an orchard under normal management.

In the sixth year of planned dense planting, the fruit trees begin to close their rows and become crowded, affecting fruit quality. Measures such as simple pruning or thinning can be taken to increase ventilation and light penetration in the orchard. Although planned dense planting has obvious advantages, its requirements for orchard management and management costs are also relatively high.

3. Management during the young tree stage

The two years from planting to flowering of sugar tangerines are the young tree stage. At this time, the focus of management is to strengthen tree nutrition, prune reasonably, and cultivate a robust canopy framework and a good root system.

Key management points for the first year

Pruning after planting

After planting, keep 5-6 leaves on the main branches on the trunk and cut them back to promote new shoot sprouting, then select 3-4 shoots that grow consistently, are of medium vigor and are evenly distributed as secondary main branches. After the new shoots mature, cut them back again to promote more shoots.

Young trees can produce two batches of summer shoots

Summer shoots mostly sprout robust branches. During the young tree stage, summer shoots can be used to increase the number of branches, which is conducive to earlier fruiting. Therefore, young trees can produce two batches of summer shoots, the first in early May and the second in mid-July. When producing summer shoots, adopt the measure of removing buds and keeping uniform ones, wipe out early buds, and promote summer shoots to sprout uniformly. After each batch of shoots matures, keep 6-8 leaves and cut back to promote the sprouting of the next batch of new shoots. The fertilization principle during the shoot period is to apply light fertilizer in shallow applications.

Young trees begin to produce autumn shoots after mid-August, and the method and management of shoot production are the same as for summer shoots.

Key management points for the second year

The main task for fruit trees in the second year is to reasonably arrange the shoot periods and expand the canopy. The amount of fertilizer applied during the shoot period is more than double that of the first year.

4. Management during the fruiting stage

After two years of careful management, the canopy, framework and branch system of the sugar tangerine have initially taken shape. In the third year, it can enter the initial fruiting stage, and in the fifth year, it enters the full fruiting stage.

Regarding the management of fruiting trees, researcher Deng Chongling of the Guangxi Special Crops Research Institute emphasized: great attention must be paid to protecting flowers and fruits, keeping the annual yield at around six thousand to eight thousand jin, and ensuring fruit quality.

(1) Protecting flowers and fruits is key

Sugar tangerines use spring shoots as fruiting branches, and the number and quality of spring shoots directly affect the flowering amount of the fruit tree. Therefore, applying spring shoot fertilizer before spring shoots sprout can promote shoots and flowers. Combined with spring shoot pruning and shoot thinning, it reduces nutrient consumption, balances tree vigor, and regulates yield early. Sugar tangerines have many flowers but severe flower drop, so foliar fertilizer (borax or monopotassium phosphate) should be sprayed during the flowering period to protect the flowers. Sugar tangerines have two physiological fruit drop periods, and the second physiological fruit drop period has a larger amount of fruit drop. After 70%-80% of the flowers in the whole orchard have faded, gibberellic acid can be sprayed to protect the fruit. When physiological fruit drop reaches the ideal fruit load, ring cutting can also be carried out to promote flower bud differentiation and improve fruit quality.

(2) Summer shoots and autumn shoots

The sprouting of summer shoots on fruiting trees competes with the fruit for nutrients. From the end of April to early May, early summer shoots should be controlled, and combined with summer pruning to remove overly dense branches and diseased and pest-damaged branches, and cut back leggy branches and non-fruiting branches. Shoot control ends in mid-July, then summer shoots are allowed to grow, and autumn shoots are allowed to grow in early to mid-August. 15 days before allowing autumn shoots, apply fertilizer to promote shoots and strengthen fruit: apply 1.5-3 kg of bean cake or wheat bran per tree, and about 1 kg of biological bacterial fertilizer.

In addition, after harvesting sugar tangerines, fertilizer should be applied immediately to supplement tree nutrition. At the same time, strengthen winter pruning and thoroughly clean the orchard to ensure a bumper and stable yield the following year.

Tips:

What is the “three avoidances” technique?

The “three avoidances” technique is also one of the characteristic management techniques for Lipu sugar tangerines, namely covering fruit trees with film during the fruit coloring period to avoid cold, avoid rain and avoid sun exposure, which is beneficial for fruit coloring and reduces pesticide use. It can also extend the freshness period of the fruit and improve fruit quality and profit. It should be noted that a comprehensive pest and disease control treatment should be carried out before film covering.