Four Key Measures for High-Quality Cultivation of Navel Oranges
Four Measures for Cultivating High-Quality Navel Oranges
1. Build the orchard to high standards. When building an orchard on a hillside, first build contour reverse-slope terraces, then dig trenches and apply base fertilizer such as rice straw, pig and cattle pen manure, phosphate fertilizer and lime. The amount of base fertilizer under each tree's planting hole must be no less than 100 kg. The plant spacing is 3 m and the row spacing is 4 m, with green manure planted between rows. Plant windbreak and shelterbelt trees along the main roads and around the orchard (Paliurus ramosissimus is preferable).
2. Expand the planting holes and improve the soil, and manage fertilizer and water well. Carry out hole expansion and soil improvement every autumn, using layered burying to apply crop straw, livestock and poultry manure, biogas residue fertilizer, cake fertilizer, etc. Deep soil improvement throughout the orchard must be completed within three years. The amount of base fertilizer applied through hole expansion around each tree each year must be no less than 75 kg. For young trees, topdressing should be light and frequent, once a month from March to August, mainly with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer and appropriately combined with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. After entering the fruiting stage, apply heavy fertilizer and reduce the frequency. From April to May, spray gibberellin at a concentration of 50 mg/L or other fruit-setting agents plus 0.2%-0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution to protect flowers and fruit. In July and October, apply fruit-sizing fertilizer and post-harvest fertilizer well. From July to October, if summer drought or autumn drought occurs, timely drought-prevention and drought-resistance measures must be taken to ensure the navel orange trees safely pass through the drought period.
3. During the growing season of navel orange trees, promptly control various diseases and pests. Such diseases include citrus canker, citrus scab, resin disease, navel yellow disease, etc., and such pests include citrus red mite, rust mite, leafminer, scale insects, whitefly, etc.
4. Prune rationally. For pruning young trees, focus mainly on shaping, bud removal and shoot control; for fruiting trees, focus on summer pruning and winter pruning, promptly remove summer shoots, and in mid-to-late July cut back spring shoot vegetative branches to 5 leaves, while also heading back strong branches and fruiting mother branches that have dropped flowers and fruit to promote autumn shoots. Because navel oranges have strong branching ability, appropriately thin out overly dense autumn shoots in early winter, leaving 2-4 vigorous autumn shoots per base branch.
2. Expand the planting holes and improve the soil, and manage fertilizer and water well. Carry out hole expansion and soil improvement every autumn, using layered burying to apply crop straw, livestock and poultry manure, biogas residue fertilizer, cake fertilizer, etc. Deep soil improvement throughout the orchard must be completed within three years. The amount of base fertilizer applied through hole expansion around each tree each year must be no less than 75 kg. For young trees, topdressing should be light and frequent, once a month from March to August, mainly with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer and appropriately combined with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. After entering the fruiting stage, apply heavy fertilizer and reduce the frequency. From April to May, spray gibberellin at a concentration of 50 mg/L or other fruit-setting agents plus 0.2%-0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution to protect flowers and fruit. In July and October, apply fruit-sizing fertilizer and post-harvest fertilizer well. From July to October, if summer drought or autumn drought occurs, timely drought-prevention and drought-resistance measures must be taken to ensure the navel orange trees safely pass through the drought period.
3. During the growing season of navel orange trees, promptly control various diseases and pests. Such diseases include citrus canker, citrus scab, resin disease, navel yellow disease, etc., and such pests include citrus red mite, rust mite, leafminer, scale insects, whitefly, etc.
4. Prune rationally. For pruning young trees, focus mainly on shaping, bud removal and shoot control; for fruiting trees, focus on summer pruning and winter pruning, promptly remove summer shoots, and in mid-to-late July cut back spring shoot vegetative branches to 5 leaves, while also heading back strong branches and fruiting mother branches that have dropped flowers and fruit to promote autumn shoots. Because navel oranges have strong branching ability, appropriately thin out overly dense autumn shoots in early winter, leaving 2-4 vigorous autumn shoots per base branch.