How to transplant citrus seedlings? Detailed technical key points

How are young citrus seedlings transplanted and cultivated? Generally, when building a new citrus orchard, you should choose an area with convenient transportation, close to a water source, and with access to electricity, water and roads. Next is a series of considerations on how to transplant citrus seedlings.

1. Orchard establishment

Citrus has strong adaptability to soil, and after improvement, all kinds of soil can be used for planting. When establishing an orchard on hillsides, follow the principle of "capping" the hilltop, "shoeing" the hill foot and "planting fruit" on the hillside, that is, do not destroy the natural forest belt and vegetation on the hilltop, and leave a forest zone at the hill foot to protect the fruit-growing area on the hillside. This can effectively ensure the balance of the natural ecology.

2. Field planting

For planting citrus seedlings, use virus-free, disease-free healthy nutrition-cup seedlings, and grafted seedlings on Poncirus trifoliata (trifoliate orange) rootstock are recommended. The planting rows and spacing should be determined according to the terrain. For hillside planting, horizontal planting rows should be opened around the hill, with a gradient drop between rows, planting one row of citrus per gradient, using "pin" shaped planting, with each terrace 3 m or 6 m wide and plant spacing of 2 m; the planting pit specification is preferably 60 cm x 60 cm x 40 cm, and 111 plants can be planted per mu for high yield.

For field planting, ridges must be raised and drainage ditches dug. For single-row ridging, the planting pit is located in the middle of the ridge; for plots with good drainage, large ridges can be raised for double-row planting, with plant and row spacing of 3 m x 3 m or 2.5 m x 3 m, and ditch spacing of 6 m; the planting pit specification is preferably 60 cm x 60 cm x 40 cm, and 74-88 plants can be planted per mu. Citrus planted before the Spring Festival can produce 3-5 flushes of shoots. Citrus planted in autumn from September to November can produce 4-6 flushes of shoots the following year.

3. Fertilization

For newly planted citrus seedlings, sufficient and good organic fertilizer must be applied, thoroughly improving the soil and laying a solid foundation to ensure two flushes of shoots the following spring. While applying sufficient base fertilizer, apply 5-10 kg of bio-organic fertilizer per plant at the bottom of the planting pit and mix it with soil to form a funnel-shaped layout. After planting the seedlings, 40-50 cm from the main trunk, spread 0.5 kg of various bio-organic-inorganic special fertilizers such as Letu Fu'an, scatter it in a circle, and cover with 3-5 cm of soil.

If transplanting seedlings, be sure to select uniform, virus-free and robust seedlings, remove the cup film, straighten them for planting and backfill soil. When the soil is half backfilled, gently lift the seedling upward (nutrition-cup seedlings do not need lifting), then continue backfilling and compacting until 2-5 cm below the graft union, and build a soil tree dish with soil (30 cm high, 60 cm in diameter). Water each plant thoroughly with about 15 kg of rooting water. Note the following:

(1) The film at the graft union must be cleaned away completely.

(2) The backfilled soil must not cover the graft union; the graft union must be more than 3-5 cm above the ground.

(3) When covering the seedlings with soil, press the surrounding soil firmly, but do not injure the seedling roots by stepping on them.

(4) When watering, pour slowly.

(5) If covering with black film, do not place it tightly against the trunk; keep a distance of 1-2 cm and do not damage the leaves.