How to Select a Site and Build an Orchard for Orah Mandarins? Detailed Explanation of the Latest Technical Points

Orah mandarin is a late-maturing hybrid citrus variety, with the advantages of vigorous growth, little winter fruit drop, strong fruiting capacity, and a long fruit-bearing harvest period, and its market season falls right around the Spring Festival, so its cultivation returns are excellent. In China, quite a lot of people grow Orah mandarins, and the first thing in planning to grow them well is to do a good job of site selection and orchard planning. Let us take a look below at the techniques for selecting a site and building an orchard for Orah mandarins.

1. Site selection

Orah mandarins have standard requirements for their growing period; the soil, air, water and climate must all meet the standards. The soil requirements most suitable for Orah mandarin growth are a deep soil layer, soft and loose plots, and a pH value between 5.5-6.5. If it is low-lying land or flat land, the groundwater level is required to be below one meter, which is for the convenience of drainage and irrigation. In addition, there is one more thing to note: you need to see whether other citrus is grown nearby and whether it is infected with huanglongbing. If there is infection, then the selected site must be more than one thousand meters away, otherwise it is very easily infected with huanglongbing.

2. Orchard establishment

1. Planning of the orchard site

The orchard site should be planned according to the orchard's topography, terrain, slope aspect and area in many aspects. For orchards on hills and mountainous land, every 20-60 mu can be taken as one block, while for orchards on flat land, every 100-200 mu can be taken as one block. Mountainous terrain should be built into contour terraces, and in windy areas windbreak forests need to be built. The choice of tree species for the windbreak forest is also very important; fast-growing tree species that do not share common diseases and insect pests with citrus must be chosen.

2. New shoots of the nursery stock

For the Orah mandarin seedlings chosen for planting, you should first buy from a manufacturer that has a production and operation license, a quality certificate and a plant quarantine certificate, so that the quality is guaranteed. When buying, choose virus-free seedlings, disease-free seedlings and healthy seedlings. Second, the seedling should have 3-4 main branches, a stem thickness of more than 0.8 cm, and a seedling height of more than 50 cm. Finally, you should also see whether the seedling's root system is well developed and whether mechanical damage is serious. If it is a rootstock, it is best to choose fragrant orange or trifoliate orange.

3. Field planting

For field planting, it is best to choose spring or autumn. Spring planting is mainly carried out from February to April, planting before the spring shoots of the seedlings sprout or after the spring shoots mature and before the summer buds sprout; autumn planting is generally carried out from October to November, planting after the autumn shoots mature. For orchards in mountainous areas, before planting, contour terraces need to be cut, and planting holes or strip trenches are made at fixed points according to the plant spacing standard; for flat land, before planting, beds need to be raised first, and planting holes are made at fixed points on the bed surface according to the plant spacing. Before planting, sufficient base fertilizer needs to be applied, and after thoroughly mixing with the topsoil, backfill the soil and build it into a mound 0.2-0.3 meters above the ground. When planting, make sure the seedling stands upright in the center of the hole, the root group is evenly distributed and spread out, and the filling soil is compacted so that the root system is closely connected with the soil. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots, and cover the tree disc with weeds and the like to retain moisture, so as to facilitate survival.

4. Management after planting

If there is no rain after planting, water in time to keep the soil moist, so as to facilitate the plant taking root. If leaf curling appears after planting, prune in time, and if dead seedlings are found, replant in time. After the new shoots turn green, apply one dilute fertilizer solution, and afterwards apply fertilizer 2-3 times for each flush of shoots, and remove buds and control diseases and insect pests in time.

  The above is an introduction to how to select a site and build an orchard for Orah mandarins. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.