How to Grow Jaboticaba? Latest Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Jaboticaba, also known as tree grape and precious fruit, is an evergreen shrub of the genus Plinia in the myrtle family, native to Brazil and other places. Its branches and leaves are dense and green all year round, and it can bloom and bear fruit in all four seasons. What is truly astonishing is that the same branch of the jaboticaba can simultaneously bloom, bear fruit and ripen, with the flowers opening on the branches. Let us take a look at the planting techniques for jaboticaba below!

Growth Habits of Jaboticaba

Jaboticaba is suited to cooler tropical and subtropical climates with moderate to high rainfall. Most varieties can tolerate low temperatures of -2.8°C, while some varieties can tolerate low temperatures of -4.4°C. It is a sun-loving tree species that requires full sun or tolerates slight shade, requires moist soil but is averse to waterlogging, and can tolerate short-term drought. It has strong adaptability to soil, but the best is deep, fertile, well-drained slightly acidic (pH5.5-6.5) sandy loam; it grows poorly on calcareous soil and is not tolerant of saline-alkaline conditions.

Propagation Methods of Jaboticaba

1. Seed propagation: Each jaboticaba fruit has 1 to 4 seeds, which are irregularly angular in shape and polyembryonic. Fresh seeds germinate better. Generally, the seed is squeezed out after breaking the skin of the fruit, and after 1-2 days when the pulp acidifies and rots, the pulp is washed off with clean water and the seeds can be sown. After harvest, the fruit is stored in plastic bags and refrigerated at 5-8°C; when ready to sow, the seeds are taken out, washed clean and sown. Refrigeration can maintain them for 1-2 months with a certain germination rate still retained. Germination occurs 20-40 days after sowing, and germination is slower at low temperatures.

2. Grafting propagation: Seedling trees of most jaboticaba varieties need 6-10 years before they begin to bear fruit. Grafting can advance fruiting, with fruit bearing about 3 years after grafting. Two-year-old seedlings are selected as rootstock, and one-year-old branches cut from fruiting mother trees are used as scions. Cut grafting or approach grafting in autumn and winter gives a higher survival rate, while the take rate is poorer after March-April, and grafting in summer is not easily successful.

3. Cutting propagation: Jaboticaba is not easy to root from cuttings; domestic research has found it to be a typically difficult-to-root species. In May each year, semi-hardwood cuttings (2 nodes with 4 leaves) can be quickly dipped in NAA2000ppm, with peat soil as the rooting medium, and the rooting rate can reach 90%. Foreign research, however, uses 10 cm long cuttings with 3-4 pairs of mature leaves, preferably inserted in a medium of sand mixed with peat soil (ratio 1:1). Slitting the base of the cutting lengthwise in 4 places and treating with IBA1000ppm can promote rooting.

Planting Techniques of Jaboticaba

1. Site selection and orchard establishment: When cultivating jaboticaba in flat paddy fields, drainage and irrigation ditches should be properly built, with a bed height of 30 cm, and the groundwater level should be below 100 cm. For slope cultivation, reclaim into terraces 3-4 m wide along contour lines, with the terrace surface sloping inward at 3-5 degrees. For planting varieties, select the native tree grape variety. Cultivation can be by hole planting or trench planting, with specifications depending on the seedling or cultivation model, generally 60×60 cm or 80×80 cm.

2. Planting specifications: Jaboticaba planting specifications include short-term, long-term and short-term-feeding-long-term models. The short-term model has a plant-row spacing of 0.5×0.5 m with 2666 plants/mu, and one year is one planting cycle. The long-term model has a plant-row spacing of 4×4 m with 88 plants/mu, with 15 years or longer as one cycle. The short-term-feeding-long-term model has a plant-row spacing of 1×0.5 m with 1333 plants/mu, and after planting, one half are thinned and removed from the nursery each year starting from the second year.

3. Bud removal and shoot setting: After jaboticaba sprouts, remove double buds, multiple-head buds and overly weak buds. After new shoots form, tie them to the wire on both sides, set shoots at 15-20 cm intervals and promptly spray Cuihuawang No. 3, which can effectively control excessive shoot growth, promote more flowering branches and promote flower bud differentiation. It can effectively balance large and small flower clusters and save the trouble of flower and fruit thinning.

4. Fertilizer and water management: Jaboticaba planting should attach importance to the use of organic fertilizer, advocate the combined use of organic fertilizer, microbial fertilizer and chemical fertilizer, with a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization ratio of 1:2:1. Promote plant nutrition diagnosis and formula fertilization, which can be applied in holes or trenches, using water-soluble fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer, with organic fertilizer, microbial fertilizer and chemical fertilizer used together in small amounts multiple times. Jaboticaba is a moisture-loving species and the soil should be kept moist, but waterlogging should be avoided.

5. Pruning and training: Jaboticaba grows slowly, and normally does not need heavy pruning, but to control plant height and potted tree shape, it is advisable to timely prune the vigorously growing top branches. In cultivation it is usually recommended to prune the low and inner thin short branches to create a ventilated tree shape with elegant branches. In autumn and winter, dense or leggy branches can be pruned.

6. Pest and disease control: Jaboticaba has few pests and diseases when cultivated in China, and pesticides are seldom used in management, making it an extremely easy tree species to grow. However, during the fruiting period it is easily damaged by birds. If tussock moth larvae harm the leaves, pesticides recommended in the plant protection manual can be applied for control. In addition, aphids, fruit flies, scale insects and beetles have all been recorded, and attention should also be paid to these pests and diseases during cultivation.