What is the purpose of trellising in dragon fruit cultivation? A detailed explanation of the latest techniques
As a tropical fruit, dragon fruit is still quite popular in our country. Nowadays, quite a lot of people grow dragon fruit. When growing dragon fruit, you will find that basically every dragon fruit plant has a trellis around it. And trellis cultivation is an indispensable task when growing dragon fruit. So what exactly is the role of trellising in dragon fruit cultivation? Below, the editor will give a brief introduction for everyone. Let's take a look together!
1. Support function
Dragon fruit is a vine-type food plant, and its stems and vines are somewhat different from those of other fruits. They are mainly triangular-columnar in shape, with no main trunk, but the branches are very long. At their tallest, they can reach 10 m, and they are basically not lignified. Therefore, the branches cannot grow on their own and can only rely on the climbing roots on the stem nodes to attach and grow upward. A trellis can provide the supporting conditions for the dragon fruit's stem nodes to grow upward, meeting the requirements of the dragon fruit's climbing growth.
2. Promote the growth of aerial roots
When growing dragon fruit, trellising allows the stem nodes of the dragon fruit to climb upward along the support, or to grow downward. This effectively increases the three-dimensional space area for the dragon fruit, thereby prompting the stem nodes of the dragon fruit to produce aerial roots. It provides a large amount of oxygen for the growth of the dragon fruit plant, improves the dragon fruit's photosynthesis, promotes its growth, and can significantly increase the fruit-setting rate and single-fruit weight of the dragon fruit.
3. Guide branches to grow downward
The length of the dragon fruit branches affects the fruiting position of the dragon fruit. The length of fruiting branches should generally be controlled at more than 1.5 m. In this way, the fruiting rate is highest for the branches in the middle and upper parts of the plant, the tips, and the downward-hanging branches. Therefore, properly controlling the length, number, and spatial configuration of the branches is the key to ensuring high yield in dragon fruit. By trellising, the branches can be effectively guided to grow downward, extending branch length and increasing yield.
4. Facilitate shaping and pruning
Dragon fruit can grow all year round, especially in spring and autumn, which are the peak growth periods for dragon fruit. The sprouting ability of the dragon fruit areoles is very strong. If not managed, all kinds of chaotic branches can easily appear, seriously affecting the overall growth of the plant. Therefore, reasonable trellising and building an orderly space can facilitate the pruning work of the plant and balance tree vigor. It allows for the reasonable distribution of fruiting branches and vegetative branches, thereby stabilizing the relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive growth.
5. Convenient for daily management
Trellising when growing dragon fruit can improve the spatial structure of the planting area and allow for reasonable layout. It lets the stem nodes of the dragon fruit plant grow in an orderly manner, ensuring both the growth of the population and the normal development of individuals. It can also control density well, and it provides great convenience for daily management tasks such as fertilizing, watering, spraying, pollination, and harvesting.
The above is a brief introduction to the role of trellising in dragon fruit cultivation. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!