How do you select seeds for the flowering almond (Prunus triloba)? What are the seedling-raising methods?

The flowering almond gets its name because its leaves resemble those of the elm and its flowers resemble those of the plum. The flowering almond is a shrub or small tree of the genus Prunus in the rose family, with lush branches and leaves and abundant, brightly colored flowers, and it is an early-spring flowering tree commonly cultivated in northern China. Now, during the warm spring blooming season, it is also the time when the flowering almond grows most vigorously. And if gardeners want to grow flowering almonds well, they must learn techniques such as seed selection and seedling raising.

How do you select seeds for the flowering almond?

There are quite a lot of flowering almond varieties, such as single-flowered flowering almond, double-flowered flowering almond, curved-branch flowering almond, cut-leaved flowering almond, and so on. When selecting seeds, you must decide according to the variety's habits and the growing environment. Generally, when propagating flowering almond from seed, single-flowered varieties are mostly used, with small flowers, pale color and few flowers; through grafting, varieties with double flowers, bright flower color, large flowers and abundant blooms can be developed.

The flowering almond tree shape is generally shrubby and clustered, and after grafting it tends to send up suckers from the base, making the rootstock and scion hard to distinguish. Through top grafting to change varieties, a small-tree form can be formed, improving ornamental value while making it easy to remove suckers.

What are the seedling-raising methods?

1. Seed collection

Select superior individual trees 8 to 15 years old, growing vigorously, fruiting normally and free of pests and diseases, as mother trees for seed collection. In mid to late August, when the fruit skin turns orange-yellow or red-yellow, they can be harvested.

2. Sowing and seedling raising

Choose sandy loam or loam that is flat, easy to irrigate, well drained, with a soil depth of more than 1 m, a pH of 7-8 and an organic matter content of more than 1%. Prepare the land in autumn, plowing to a depth of 30-35 cm, and apply 1000-1500 of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu along with deep plowing, then irrigate fully with winter water.

Germinate the seeds 15-20 days before sowing. When the soil surface thaws to a depth of 15-20 cm, sowing can begin. Generally, the furrow-sowing method is used, with row spacing of 25-30 cm and furrow depth of 5-7 cm; sow the seeds evenly in the furrows at 3-5 cm intervals and cover with 2-3 cm of fine sand.

3. Management after sowing

Irrigate immediately after sowing, and thereafter irrigate promptly whenever the soil moisture content falls below 60%. When the seedlings are 10-15 cm tall, thin them, keeping seedlings at a spacing of 6-10 cm, with 20000-25000 seedlings per mu; when the seedlings reach 25-30 cm tall, apply 5-10 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per mu, and after an interval of 30-40 days apply another 10-15 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per mu.

4. Grafting for seedling raising

Graft in spring after the sap of the rootstock begins to flow, and irrigate the nursery 5-7 days before grafting. Two methods can be used: bark grafting and cleft grafting. Bark grafting means inserting the scion directly between the xylem and the cortex, then wrapping the joint tightly and firmly with plastic film; cleft grafting means inserting the cut surface into the cleft of the rootstock so that the scion's cut surface is slightly exposed, aligning the cambium layers of both rootstock and scion closely, then binding and wrapping tightly with plastic strips.

Overall, the flowering almond is a major ornamental flowering tree in the arid regions of northwest China, with characteristics such as cold resistance, drought resistance and tolerance of poor soil. In order to standardize the propagation process of the flowering almond and promote its prosperous blooming, mastering the key seedling-raising techniques is crucial.

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