The Latest Technical Methods and Tutorial for Winter Management of Loquat
Loquat is a common fruit; its fruit is rich in nutrients and also has the main benefit of relieving cough and soothing the throat. As winter arrives, most fruit trees enter their winter state, but loquat is at this time just before flowering. Management at this point is therefore quite important. Let's take a look together with the editor below.
1. Flower thinning and fruit thinning
Because loquat has a large number of flowers and a long flowering period, it consumes a great deal of nutrients. If flowers and fruits are not thinned in time, a large amount of nutrients will be consumed during flowering and fruiting, weakening the tree's vigor, leading to alternate bearing, smaller fruit and poorer quality, and seriously affecting economic returns. Therefore, in order to save nutrients, overcome alternate bearing, and improve yield and quality, flower and fruit thinning must be carried out according to actual conditions. Flower thinning is generally carried out when the flower clusters have all emerged. Mature trees have larger flower clusters, and the earlier the flower thinning, the better; generally the amount of flower thinning is controlled at between 30% and 50%. And because the loquat flowering period is long, fruiting generally has to wait until February. Fruit thinning first involves removing diseased, pest-damaged, deformed, and injured or frost-damaged fruits, then removing densely clustered fruits, and keeping fruits of uniform size.
2. Applying overwintering fertilizer
When the loquat plant emerges flower clusters in November, apply 25 kg of decomposed farmyard manure and 3 kg of superphosphate per plant. You can dig 6-8 radial trenches 15 cm deep, 10 cm, and 20 cm wide around the outer edge of the canopy. Then scatter the fertilizer into the trenches and cover with soil. Doing this can increase the tree's nutrition, improve the tree's cold resistance, promote more flowering and increase the fruit-setting rate, laying a solid foundation for a bumper harvest the following year.
3. Preventing freeze damage
The flowering period of loquat is in winter, and winter is sometimes a season with more rain, snow and low-temperature weather. If cold-protection measures are not taken, the flower organs and the tree body will suffer freeze damage, thereby affecting the fruit-setting rate. So in addition to applying sufficient base fertilizer, cold-protection and freeze-resistance measures must also be well carried out. You can irrigate the orchard before low temperatures arrive, which can improve cold resistance; you can also cover with plastic film to provide heat preservation and moisture retention. You can also whitewash the trunk in November to reduce the temperature difference between day and night, avoid frost cracking of the bark, and enhance cold resistance. When frost occurs, smoking can be used to prevent it. Before freeze damage, plant cytokinin and fruit antifreeze agents can be sprayed to improve the freeze resistance of flowers and fruits.
The above is an introduction to the winter management techniques for loquat. I hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.