How to Grow Physalis? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods
Physalis, also known as Chinese lantern, can be seen everywhere in the countryside of our country. When the editor was little, I often picked them to play with, but did you know that this wild fruit found everywhere has extremely high nutritional value? It can not only be eaten directly but also made into canned goods, juice, and so on. It is very popular on the market, and its market demand is growing. Many people want to grow it but do not know how. Below, the editor brings you the cultivation methods for physalis.
1. Site selection and planting
Although physalis is not very strict about soil requirements, if you want it to grow and develop normally and well, you should still choose a place with more humus, fertile soil, and loose texture. The orchard should be established in a sheltered, sunny place far from noisy areas, such as residential districts and factories. Ensure the orchard is pollution-free and try to build it on hillsides, but the slope must not exceed 10 degrees. When planting, determine the planting density well, with a row spacing of about 1*1 m per plant, and the width and depth of the planting hole at about 40 cm. Apply 5 kg of farmyard manure to each planting hole. After planting, the hole surface should be a few centimeters lower than the ground to ensure moisture for physalis during the growing season.
2. Training and pruning
Physalis generally begins to bear fruit in the second year after planting, and one fruit cluster will have about 2-3 fruits. In the year of planting, you should choose to keep 4-5 strong, well-developed basal shoots. After the second year, keep 4-5 basal shoots each year. Usually, about 20 basal shoots are kept per clump. When each tree grows to 4-5 years, it can reach a high yield of about 10 kg. However, overly dense branches within the clump may cause poor air and light penetration, making the area below the main branches prone to becoming bare, with no fruit inside and reduced yield. Therefore, when entering the fruiting stage, pay attention to pruning the fruit tree, strengthen air and light penetration, and cut away weak branches and excess basal shoots from overly dense clumps.
3. Topdressing and watering
After planting and seedling recovery, apply a seedling-promoting fertilizer together with watering, and water thoroughly. Keep the soil moist, watering once a week. In dry summer weather, the watering interval can be appropriately shortened. Apply fertilizer per mu by hole application or furrow application, generally farmyard manure or urea. Apply the second fertilizer after the fruit expands, in order to promote fruit development and plant growth. In the middle and late stages of harvesting, topdressing should be carried out according to the plant's growth condition. If the base fertilizer is insufficient, compound fertilizer can be applied as topdressing. If conditions permit, foliar topdressing can be carried out by preparing urea or compound fertilizer into an aqueous solution and spraying it on the leaves about once every five days. If the leaves are too large and the internodes are too long, showing suspected excessive vegetative growth, use potassium dihydrogen phosphate for control.
4. Disease control
During the cultivation process, great attention should be paid to soil management in the orchard, clearing the weeds that grow to reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases. During the flowering period and the new shoot growth period, if there is continuous dry weather, pay attention to timely irrigation. Apply fertilizer at least three times each year. When the leaves fall in mid-to-late October each year, pay attention to burying them into the soil for cold protection. The thickness of the covering soil should not expose the branches. Around April of the second year, when the temperature gradually rises, the cold protection measures can be removed. This can effectively prevent frost damage and pests and diseases, ensuring the normal growth and development of the plants.
Physalis has very high nutritional value and can almost be said to be a treasure all over. At present, the market price of physalis is also very high. Moreover, after the ripe physalis fruit is harvested, it can be stored for a relatively long time, so it is a good project for making money through cultivation. Before planting, everyone should first understand the growth characteristics of physalis, the suitable environment, and so on, and then decide whether to plant it on a large scale. I hope this article by the editor can be helpful to everyone.