The Latest Guide to High-Yield Plum Cultivation Techniques
The plum is a common fruit native to China with a very long history of cultivation, and generally a few trees are planted around the front and back of rural houses. However, if you want to plant on a large scale and make a profit, then you must carry out some artificial management and apply certain techniques. Nowadays, whenever plums are in season, there are a great many buyers, so I will now explain to everyone how to plant them to increase yields.
1. Planting Density
When planting, about 40 trees can be planted per mu, with a plant spacing of about 2 m and a row spacing of about 3 m. When raising seedlings, you can broadcast the seeds freely, but as soon as the seedlings emerge evenly you must immediately thin them out, removing diseased seedlings, weak seedlings, and weeds. Then, when they grow to about 3 cm, they should be divided once, and when they reach 70 to 80 cm they can be transplanted, maintaining the plant and row spacing mentioned above.
2. Planting Time
Generally, in the south, planting is done in March in spring, or in October during the mild "little Indian summer." Both of these times are relatively warm but not hot, and the rainfall is not especially heavy, which is good for root growth and tree survival; with less transpiration, less watering is needed, reducing the burden. In the north, autumn enters the cold period quickly and it lasts a long time, so spring planting is best, but spring planting must also be done after the soil thaws, otherwise the trees may freeze to death.
3. Planting Method
First, dig the planting pit. Although the seedling is less than one meter tall, when transplanting it still needs to carry a 30 to 40 cm soil ball. Moreover, for later growth, the pit must be dug about 80 cm deep and about 70 cm wide. When digging the soil, place the topsoil, middle-layer soil, and subsoil separately. When planting, first mix the subsoil with base fertilizer and fallen leaves and backfill it, then cover the fertilizer soil with the middle-layer soil, place the sapling in, then cover with topsoil, gently lift the seedling, and then water thoroughly to settle the roots. Be sure to plant the seedling upright and straight, and let the roots spread out naturally and hang down, rather than being tangled together randomly. It must be planted in the exact center of the pit, leaving equal growing space on both sides so it does not grow lopsided. If it is a purchased seedling, be sure to replenish water in time, and once it has recovered its uprightness, trim some roots before planting.
Even when growing the same plums, some have high yields and some have low yields. Besides being planted in different places, this is also because every detail during cultivation has been optimized. So you can compare your own methods and seek the best approach.