How to care for the latest gold fruit? Detailed care methods
The gold fruit has a peculiar fruit shape, with an ornamental fruiting period of up to half a year and bright fruit color, making it a precious ornamental fruiting plant. It prefers a warm, humid and sunny environment, with an optimum growth temperature of 15-25°C, has a certain cold tolerance, and is afraid of waterlogging and drought. It can withstand low temperatures of 3-4°C. It is suitable for fertile, loose and well-drained sandy loam soil. The winter temperature must not be lower than 12°C. It can be propagated by sowing and cuttings, and is widely used in cut flowers and potted flowers.
How is gold fruit propagated?
Gold fruit is commonly propagated by sowing and cuttings. For sowing, sow in pots in spring, with an optimum germination temperature of 20-25°C, and germination occurs 7-10 days after sowing. For cuttings, use tender top shoots as cuttings in summer, 12-15cm long, inserted into a sand bed; they can root in 15-20 days, and are transplanted to open ground or pots after 30 days.
Pest and disease control of gold fruit
Leaf spot disease and anthracnose often occur and cause damage; spray with 1 000 times dilution of 10% antibacterial agent 401 acetic acid solution. Pests include aphids and whiteflies; spray with 1 000 times dilution of 2.5% derris extract emulsifiable concentrate to kill them.
Gold fruit has relatively few pests and diseases during the growing period, with occasional damage from viral disease and red spider mites, which can be controlled with 70% thiophanate-methyl and 40% omethoate respectively.
How to care for gold fruit?
Choose fertile, loose and well-drained sandy loam soil for planting; if drainage is poor, the roots rot very easily. Gold fruit likes fertilizer; apply fertilizer once every half month during the growing period, and apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer 2-3 more times from bud stage to young fruit stage. If the flowering period encounters high temperature and dry conditions, the pollen does not easily disperse, affecting pollination and fruit set. Pay attention to watering and shading. In autumn, cut 50-60cm long fruiting branches as cutting material, mainly using stems and fruits, remove the leaves, and insert them in clean water to keep them fresh.
1. Soil. Gold fruit grows well in deep, loose, fertile, well-drained weakly acidic sandy loam soil, but it can also grow in neutral and weakly alkaline soil.
2. Fertilization. Apply sufficient base fertilizer when potting or repotting; 50 grams of hoof and horn pieces can be placed at the bottom of each pot. Apply more nitrogen fertilizer during the seedling stage, applying liquid fertilizer once every half month. After flowering and fruit set, mainly use phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, or spray 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaf surface, so that the fruits are robust and the seeds are plump.
3. Temperature. Gold fruit likes warmth and is not cold-tolerant; it needs to overwinter indoors and should be kept at 10°C to 25°C. The optimum growth temperature is 20°C to 30°C; growth is slow at 5°C to 10°C, stops below 5°C, and it suffers freezing damage below 0°C. In summer it can endure high temperatures of around 35°C, but it should not last too long.
4. Light. It likes sufficient sunlight and avoids long-term shading. It is most suitable for growing under strong light. If light is insufficient, the plant will grow leggy, and the leaves will yellow and fall off.
5. Water. Gold fruit likes moisture and avoids drought and water accumulation. In summer, water once or twice a day to prevent excessive dryness and leaf drop, which affects growth. If the soil is too wet during the flowering period, flowers easily drop, reducing the fruit set rate. During the fruit ripening period, the soil should be moist to prevent the fruits from drying, yellowing and losing luster. Under high temperature and dryness, the phenomenon of only flowering without fruiting easily occurs.
6. Dwarfing and fruit thinning. To fully dwarf a tall plant, remove the terminal bud when its stem branches grow to 50 cm high, so that the plant no longer grows taller and the side buds grow. When the side buds reach an appropriate height, spray with paclobutrazol to inhibit height and promote flowering until the fruit ripens. After fruiting, if the plant has too many fruits, set up supports to prevent breaking and lodging. Fruit can be appropriately thinned without affecting ornamentality to ensure the fruits are large.