Detailed Guide to Ginseng Fruit Cultivation Techniques, with Video Instruction
Ginseng fruit, also known as golden ginseng fruit, originated in South America and is a treasure among fruits. Its flesh is fragrant and juicy. Because it is rich in nutrients and contains selenium and other trace elements, it has been hailed as the "king of anti-cancer foods." This variety has a broad market and notable economic and social benefits, and is becoming a popular project for rural prosperity and a new growth point for promoting the rural economy.
Biological Characteristics
1. Morphological Characteristics
It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family, with a plant height of 100 cm and a crown diameter of 60 cm. Its lifespan is about 8 years. The fruit is golden yellow. A single plant bears 20 to 30 fruits per year, with a maximum of 50, and a single fruit weighs 200 g to 500 g. Ripe fruit can remain on the branch for 3 to 4 months without dropping. The annual yield per mu is 2000 kg to 5000 kg.
2. Growing Conditions
It can grow normally above 5°C. Under conditions of 15°C to 35°C, it can bloom and bear fruit continuously. Generally, it bears fruit in all four seasons in a greenhouse. Under open-field cultivation, it can also bear fruit more than 2 times a year. It can also be grown in indoor pots to beautify the environment.
Land Preparation and Fertilization
Deeply plow the soil and apply sufficient base fertilizer. Apply 3000 kg of farmyard manure, 50 kg of phosphate fertilizer, 100 kg of plant ash, or an appropriate amount of potassium fertilizer per mu. However, urea and ammonium bicarbonate should not be used.
Cutting Propagation
Ginseng fruit is mainly propagated asexually, among which the seedbed cutting method is the simplest. Seedlings raised before the end of June can bear fruit in the same year. The seedbed is 1.5 m wide and any number of meters long. Moisten the bed surface with manure water, insert the branches 3.5 cm deep, with a plant-row spacing of 5 cm×10 cm. They root in about 6 days. Water with manure water once a week, and they can be transplanted or sold as seedlings after 45 days. Choose the afternoon for transplanting. The plant-row spacing is 50 cm×50 cm, planting about 2500 plants per 667 sq m. The transplanting depth must cover more than three nodes of the seedling with soil, and immediately after planting, water once with diluted manure water.
Field Management
1. Topdressing and Watering
Water once on the third day after transplanting, and water as needed according to conditions. Pay attention to intertillage and weeding, and apply diluted manure water once every 15 days. During the flowering and fruiting period, spray foliar fertilizer and plant growth hormone once every 15 days, which helps early flowering and more fruit set.
2. Planting and Pruning
After transplanting and survival, weak seedlings and diseased seedlings should be promptly removed and replanted. Ginseng fruit has extremely strong branching ability. Countless small branches will grow from the base of each leaf. Each plant should retain 4 to 10 branches as fruit-bearing branches, and all the rest should be pruned off. Prune once every 10 days. The tender leaves pruned each year can amount to as much as 3000 kg per mu, which can be used as green feed for poultry and livestock.
3. Trellis Reinforcement
The fruit of ginseng fruit is abundant, and the branches cannot bear the weight, so bamboo poles must be used to build a trellis to secure the branches.
4. Pest and Disease Control
(1) When plants fail to grow and stunting disease occurs, spray Kemeite.
(2) For rot and phytophthora disease caused by microorganisms, use carbendazim, thiophanate-methyl, yishuangling, and other drugs for control.
(3) For pests such as red spider mites and aphids, insecticides such as kemante, miesaoli, or DDV can be selected for foliar spray control, but dimethoate is strictly prohibited, because ginseng fruit is especially sensitive to this drug and it can cause devastating phytotoxicity.
5. Safe Overwintering
Ginseng fruit can overwinter safely in the open field in tropical and subtropical regions; in temperate regions, plastic film mulching can be used for insulation; in cold regions, it is suitable to grow it in greenhouses.
Harvest and Utilization
Ginseng fruit takes 3 to 5 months from cutting to harvest. Picked fruit can also be stored at room temperature for about 50 days, so fruit is available on the market throughout the year. It is both a rare fruit and a vegetable with a unique flavor, and can also be processed into juice beverages and canned goods, with promising prospects.