How to Grow Smoked Plum? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Planting Methods

The smoked plum (Japanese apricot, Prunus mume) is a fruit and also a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, with relatively high nutritional and medicinal value, but it should not be eaten in large amounts or over a long period, otherwise it may cause adverse reactions. Smoked plums are also fairly common in our daily lives, but they mainly appear in the form of dried fruit, and can be used to treat chronic diarrhea and chronic dysentery, chronic cough due to lung deficiency, as well as vomiting, abdominal pain, ascariasis-induced syncope, and more; at the same time, they also have an appetite-stimulating effect. So how do you grow smoked plums? Let us take a closer look at its planting methods below.

1. Woodland Preparation

The smoked plum is characterized by a preference for warmth, moisture, and sunlight, is cold-tolerant, drought-resistant, and afraid of waterlogging. It has relatively strong vitality and is not particular about the soil of the planting site, but generally smoked plums grown in loose soil with sufficient fertility have better yield and quality. In particular, it is best not to plant smoked plums in heavy clay and saline-alkali land, as they are not easy to survive there and are prone to pests and diseases. The planting site should be relatively high in elevation with good drainage, and the land should be finely prepared; fertilizer should be applied at the same time as land preparation, mainly farmyard manure, with an appropriate amount of urea, phosphate fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, and the like added. Open furrows and make beds, with the beds about 1.5 m wide and 20 cm high, and then you can wait to sow.

2. Planting Techniques

There are three propagation methods for smoked plum, namely seed propagation, grafting propagation, and cutting propagation, but the most commonly used method at present is still seed propagation. Seed propagation is generally carried out as spring sowing in April each year, sowing evenly at a row spacing of 25 cm, with the distance between each seed being about 6 to 8 cm, and finally covering the seeds with soil. Grafting propagation is generally carried out in early spring, which makes the survival rate much higher, and uses 1- to 2-year-old rootstock suitable for grafting. Cutting propagation, meanwhile, can be carried out in early spring or at the autumn equinox; before cutting, the cuttings should be soaked in rooting powder, which can promote rooting. During the seedling-raising period, the field soil should be kept moist.

3. Field Management

It is generally best to transplant and establish smoked plums before bud break in early spring, as the survival rate of transplanting will be much higher this way. When transplanting, they are generally established at a row spacing of 3 m and a plant spacing of 2 m. After establishment, watering should be carried out reasonably, which helps the plants survive. After the smoked plums survive, attention should be paid to intertillage and weeding, and the field moisture should be controlled according to changes in the weather. Generally, three applications of main fertilizer are needed over the course of a year, and each topdressing is best carried out together with intertillage and watering, which helps nutrient absorption and promotes root growth. At the same time, pruning and shaping should be carried out at least once a year for smoked plums to achieve a yield-increasing effect.

4. Pest and Disease Control

The most important disease of smoked plum is anthracnose, which not only harms the fruit of the smoked plum but also harms the branches, leaves, and so on. In the early stage of the disease, we can use tebuconazole wettable powder or carbendazim for control. There are also gray mold, plaster disease, scab, and so on, which can be controlled with procymidone wettable powder, 1 Baume degree, and thiophanate-methyl wettable powder respectively. Pests that harm the growth of smoked plum include aphids, longhorn beetles, globular scale insects, slug moths, and so on, which we can spray and kill with pyrethroid insecticides.

The planting method of smoked plum is actually very similar to the planting method of the cherries we usually grow. In the process of growing smoked plums, there are actually many points that need attention, and we will continue to update and improve them later. If you want to learn more detailed content, you can follow us.