How to Prevent Betel Nut Freeze Damage in Winter? Latest Measures Explained
Many people like chewing betel nut, but mostly they eat the processed kind. In fact, betel nut also needs to be planted, grown to fruit, and then harvested and processed before it goes on the market. Betel nut is a typical tropical and subtropical plant, mostly cultivated in the south, but winter temperatures are too low, and if management is improper, it is very easy to cause betel nut trees to suffer freeze injury or even freeze to death. So how should cold protection measures be done well? Follow the editor and take a look.
1. Harm of freeze damage
Betel nut is suitable for growing in a tropical environment with an annual average temperature above 22 degrees. When the average is below 16 degrees, it will cause its old leaves to fall off early. When it is below 5 degrees, it will show yellowing leaves, drying up, blackened and falling fruit, and may even die directly. Because low temperatures lasting improperly can also cause damage to varying degrees. Generally, adult trees show dry leaf tips and early falling of old leaves, and in severe cases the entire crown dries up. Young trees and adult trees have similar symptoms, but in severe cases they can cause plant death.
2. Cold resistance measures at the seedling stage
First, before winter begins, apply less nitrogen fertilizer such as urea, and apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. You can spray 300 times diluted potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution or use 500 times diluted potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution for irrigation. This can significantly improve the cold resistance of the plants. When clearing the orchard, combine fungicides and insecticides with spraying cold resistance agents such as calcium nitrate, calcium chloride, and plant protection agents, which can significantly improve the cold resistance of the plants. For relatively severe freeze damage, you can temporarily build film cover to raise the seedbed temperature, and you can also irrigate with well water in the evening to increase ground temperature.
3. Cold resistance measures for young trees
Likewise, before winter begins, apply less nitrogen fertilizer such as urea and human excrement and urine, and apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. In November, you can apply superphosphate and potassium chloride together with organic fertilizer. Before winter begins, you can whitewash the trunks with whitewash agent. This has excellent effects in preventing and controlling pests and diseases and improving cold and freeze resistance. The whitewash agent can be prepared by mixing lime, sulfur powder, and salt with water. When the temperature is relatively low, you can burn smoke in the orchard to prevent freezing, but avoid open flames to prevent scorching the leaves. After the freeze damage, you can strengthen fertilizer management, applying 0.2-0.5 kg of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer per plant, and you can also apply carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl to wounds on trunks with wounds.
4. Cold protection measures for fruiting trees
As with the previous two, apply less nitrogen fertilizer and more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, and likewise whitewash the trunks to improve cold and freeze resistance. After cold damage, strengthen fertilizer and water management to restore tree vigor as soon as possible. You can apply 0.5 kg of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer per mu, and you can also apply a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer according to the nutritional condition of the tree. Attention should also be paid to the application of magnesium fertilizer, applying 0.2 kg of magnesium sulfate per plant. This can reduce leaf yellowing caused by freeze damage. When cold damage is severe in January-February, it will affect the flowering and fruiting of the plants, so after March-April apply a small amount of trace elements such as boron fertilizer to improve the pollination quality of the plants. After flowering, it is recommended to spray fruit-setting agents such as boric acid and potassium dihydrogen phosphate to reduce flower and fruit drop and increase yield.
The above is an introduction to prevention measures for betel nut freeze damage in winter. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please follow us.