Longan Grafting Technique Tutorial: A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods
Longan is a fruit with high nutritional value and good taste. The fruit can be eaten fresh or dried into a dried product, and its market in our country is very large. Now the market demand for longan is also rising continuously, so the planting area is also expanding continuously. If you want to expand the planting area, then propagation work is very important. Today the editor has brought you the grafting propagation technique for longan, so let's take a look below!
1. Grafting time
The grafting time for longan should be determined according to temperature. Generally, around March each year, when the temperature stabilizes at around 20 degrees, is the best time for longan grafting. The grafting time should not be too early or too late. If grafting is too early, the temperature is relatively low. The longan plant's metabolism is low and the flow of fluids is low, and it has not yet fully awakened from the dormant period, so the grafting survival rate is low. If grafting is too late, the scion's nutrient consumption is high, and the temperature is too high, which will also affect the grafting survival rate.
2. Scion selection
First, we should choose a robust tree with a high fruiting rate as the mother tree, and select scions from the mother tree. For the scion, use stout shoots from the upper part of the mother tree's canopy with a high number of axillary buds and no wounds as the scion. After cutting off the shoots, cut off all the leaves on them, and then do the tidying work well. Control the quantity and keep the branches moist to avoid losing their sprouting ability. Therefore, it is best to collect and graft the scions immediately, and the storage time should not exceed 7 days.
3. Rootstock selection
The selection of rootstock is also very important. Use trees under 10 years old, and choose 1st-2nd grade scaffold branches as the rootstock. Keep the diameter of the branches at around 5-8 cm. Usually, the older the tree, the thicker and stouter it is, and the larger the canopy, the better the quality of its rootstock. Generally, adjust the number of rootstocks reasonably according to tree age: about 3 for a 4-year-old tree, and about 4 for a 7-8-year-old tree. When selecting rootstock, it is best to retain a certain amount of auxiliary nurturing branches, controlled at about 1/4 of the number of branches in the canopy, to maintain the water and fertilizer balance of the grafted tree.
4. Grafting height
For longan grafting, it is best to use dwarfing grafting, which is more beneficial for operation, management and so on. It can also improve field ventilation and light penetration and promote rapid growth of the longan tree. Generally, for fruit trees under 5 years old, graft at a position about 35 cm above the ground on the trunk. For 7-8-year-old trees, graft at a position about 70 cm. Mainly adjust the grafting height reasonably according to the rootstock's tree age, trunk thickness and so on.
5. Grafting method
When grafting, both the rootstock and the scion should maintain a flat straight cut surface to ensure that the scion can be stabilized on the rootstock. The grafted bud should maintain a good angle to form a slanted surface, then cut the straight cut surface to about 3 cm until reaching the plane of the woody cambium. Then cut it off at a place about 10 cm above the bud eye, insert the grafted bud tightly, and align it. After inserting, wrap it well with grafting film and seal it, but also ensure it is thin enough to ensure that the scion buds can normally break through the film.
The above is a brief introduction to longan grafting technique. Longan propagation methods include grafting, seeds and several other methods, and you should choose reasonably mainly according to the local environment and your own planting habits. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!