How to Grow Crabapples? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Planting Methods
The crabapple is a fruit that looks very much like an apple, also called the hongguo or Chinese pearleaf crabapple, and it is a variety of the genus Malus. The crabapple has a rich fragrance, a unique taste, and extremely high nutritional and medicinal value, making it a very popular fruit today. It is rich in vitamins and organic fruit acids, and has the effects of promoting salivation, aiding digestion, and improving eyesight, while also being used to astringe essence and stop dysentery, and to expel parasites. It is mainly grown in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Guizhou, Hubei and other places in China. So today what we will focus on is the planting methods for crabapples. Let's take a look below.
1. Site Preparation
Crabapples can be grown on sunny hillside areas as well as on flat plains. The area near the orchard should have convenient transportation, good irrigation conditions, and be close to a water source; the soil should be slightly saline-alkaline and rich in nutrients; and there should be a windbreak belt around it and plenty of sunshine. There are two ways to prepare the land, full ploughing and pit ploughing, but pit ploughing is the most commonly used. Each pit should be 90 cm wide and about 80 cm deep. After digging, spread a certain amount of base fertilizer into the pit, cover it with a thin layer of soil, and wait to plant.
2. Seedling Selection
Different regions are suited to growing different crabapple varieties. Currently, the better varieties include k9, 123, Huang Taiping, Lingdang, Daqiu and others. We can choose the best variety according to different situations, and of course we can also mix and plant multiple varieties. For crabapple seedlings, we generally choose young plants about 90 cm to 1.1 or 1.2 m tall, whose root systems are relatively well developed, with relatively many lateral roots, no damage, no pests or diseases, smooth surfaces, few fine hairs, and relatively high water content with no signs of drying out or dehydration. The survival rate of planting such seedlings can reach over 95 percent.
3. Scientific Planting
Generally, crabapples are planted at a density of more than 40 plants per mu, with a row spacing of generally 6 to 9 m and a plant spacing of about 2 m. Secondly, if the variety chosen has a smaller canopy, then we can also plant at a row spacing of 4 m and a plant spacing of 2 m, allowing more than 80 plants per mu. At the same time, some areas can also use a specification of 3 m row spacing and 2 m plant spacing, allowing more than 100 plants per mu. When planting, we must rationally pair pollinator trees, generally planting at a ratio of 2 to 1 or 3 to 1, which can increase the success rate of pollination and thus raise the crabapple yield.
4. Management Methods
After planting, we must carry out reasonable pruning of branches and leaves, using the small-crown sparse-layered form, the free spindle form, or the basal three-main-branch central-leader cylinder form. Generally, after planting, every other year we need to dig pits around the tree to replace the soil and apply farmyard manure, soil-and-miscellaneous manure, and so on. Secondly, in May each year, a layer of rice straw or dry grass should be spread around the tree, and watering should be carried out. Fertilization needs to be based on the different growth stages of the crabapple tree and the fertility of the soil. During the young tree stage, nitrogen fertilizer is mainly used, while mature fruit trees need to be fertilized in four stages: the bud break stage, the flowering stage, the fruiting stage, and the late fruit-picking stage, and foliar fertilizer should also be sprayed reasonably. Finally, combined with intertillage, watering and drainage should be carried out to promote nutrient absorption and prevent the soil from becoming compacted.
5. Pest and Disease Control
Crabapples are relatively resistant, and pests and diseases generally rarely occur. However, before the branches and leaves sprout each year, we need to spray one application of 5-degree lime sulfur mixture, and carry out a comprehensive and thorough disinfection of the orchard. Finally, we must still be prepared to prevent pests, such as caterpillars, slug moths, and leafhoppers, especially leafhoppers, which lay eggs on the branches in autumn; if not paid attention to, the harm to the crabapple trees the following year is very great. So we can use a wooden stick to kill the eggs, and spray omethoate emulsifiable concentrate or trichlorfon and other pesticides for control.
Crabapples are actually really very similar to apples; apart from the fruit being relatively small, basically all other aspects are the same. That is all for the crabapple planting methods the editor wants to share with everyone today. I hope it can help you all. If you want to learn more information about planting, remember to leave the editor a message.