A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods for Growing Prickly Pear
Prickly pear, as the name suggests, is the fruit of the cactus. Everyone thinks that cacti do not bear fruit, but that is actually wrong. The prickly pear has the highest nutritional value of the entire cactus. Prickly pear is rich in trace elements, various amino acids and other nutrients. Demand for prickly pear is now growing, and many people want to grow cacti that can bear fruit but do not know how. Below, the editor brings you the methods for growing prickly pear. Let's take a look!
1. Site selection and land preparation
The cactus is originally a desert plant. Its requirements for light and water are not great, and it is very tolerant of barren soil, but it fears water. Therefore, in order to satisfy the cactus's growth habits, when selecting a site, try to choose sandy soil that is fertile, slightly acidic and well drained. The planting site must have plenty of sunlight. After selecting the site, prepare the land: first plow the soil and expose it to the sun for disinfection. If the planting site has a certain slope, it is best to build retaining walls and embankments. Then, according to the local weather conditions, determine the size of the drainage ditches and make the beds properly to facilitate drainage and later management.
2. Seed selection and planting
There are many varieties of cactus, including varieties that can bear fruit. When selecting seeds, we must pay attention to choosing the seeds of fruit-type cacti. Prickly pear is generally grown by cuttings. When taking cuttings, pay attention to temperature and humidity; the temperature should be around 30 degrees, and the soil must not be moist. First dig the planting holes in the planting site. The size of the planting holes is determined by the size of the seedlings. Then press the cactus stem segments into the sand and control the depth well. The direction of the stem segments should face the sunlight as much as possible so that the cactus gets enough light. Note that before roots emerge, the seedlings must be prevented from coming into direct contact with fertilizer.
3. Field management
Although the cactus can survive in very barren soil, artificial cultivation still requires the cactus to have sufficient yield, and the quality must not be too poor either. Therefore, during the growing process, fertilizer should be applied at the right times. Before planting, after land preparation, apply sufficient fully decomposed base fertilizer. Then apply fertilizer reasonably according to the cactus's growth condition. The fertilizer should be mainly farmyard manure, with an appropriate addition of phosphate fertilizer. Although the cactus is somewhat afraid of water, when the prickly pear enters the fruit expansion stage, it still needs a certain amount of water. The soil moisture content is sufficient when the soil can be squeezed into a ball by hand without falling apart.
4. Timely harvesting
When the prickly pear grows to the size of a table tennis ball, it is basically already ripe, and ripe prickly pears must be picked in time. You must grasp the timing of prickly pear harvesting well. Picking too early makes it impossible to control the yield well, which will have a certain impact on yield. But it must also never be picked too late, because picking too late causes the sweetness of the fruit to decrease, making the fruit more sour and reducing its commercial value. Therefore, about 30-40 days after ripening, all of them should be picked. In a constant-temperature environment, the fruit can be stored for a period of time, but it is still best to bring it to market as early as possible.
The above is a brief introduction to the methods for growing prickly pear. Growing prickly pear is no longer anything unusual in some places. People today pursue a quality life and are very fond of things with high nutritional value, so naturally the market for prickly pear will grow larger and larger. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting.