Bergamot potted planting techniques and management methods
Bergamot is a variety of citron and belongs to the citrus group of ornamental fruit flowers. It is quite common for bergamot not to bloom, or to bloom without setting fruit, or to fail to hold fruit after setting it. Below, the editor will introduce the techniques for growing potted bergamot.
Bergamot potted cultivation techniques
1. Promote the vegetative growth of seedlings so they become established plants as early as possible. In the second and third years, when repotting in spring, apply cake fertilizer, hoof pieces, and bone meal as base fertilizer, and at the same time carry out one shaping and pruning session. Cut the main trunk back to 15 cm, leave 3-5 axillary buds below, and encourage them to sprout strong branches to expand the canopy. When new shoots grow to 5-8 cm, pinch them back, removing the terminal bud and side buds, so as to develop a certain tree shape and promote earlier entry into the fruiting stage.
2. Bergamot prefers acidic soil, and the pH should be kept at about 5.3; the potting soil ratio is 60% humus soil, 30% river sand, and 10% peat soil or furnace ash residue. A thin fertilizer solution can be applied once every ten days to half a month. Too much water easily causes root rot, so the method of watering by checking soil moisture should be adopted: do not water when the surface layer of the potting soil is not dry, and water thoroughly each time. This applies all year round.
3. The most suitable humidity for bergamot is 70%-90%. For this reason, in dry seasons, spray water on the leaves 1-2 times a day, and water can also be sprinkled on the ground to increase air humidity. The suitable growing temperature for bergamot is 15-30°C. In hot seasons, it should be moved to a cool, ventilated, and shaded place. When the temperature is below 5°C, cold protection is required.
4. Bergamot does not set fruit easily, so various methods must be used to promote fruit set. During the bud stage, before flowering, and after flowering, organic fertilizer must be applied as a top dressing, and a thin organic liquid fertilizer should also be applied once a week. Then thin the buds. Deformed buds and diseased or weak buds must all be removed. Too many buds must not be retained; only the two or three buds near the top of the branch with the best growth should be kept. Excessive fruit set should not be required.
5. Bergamot is prone to yellow leaf disease and leaf drop. If yellow leaf disease occurs, a 1% ferrous sulfate solution can be poured on it. If root rot occurs, repot immediately, take the plant out of the pot, rinse the roots, remove the rotten roots, disinfect them, and plant them in disinfected plain sandy soil for care so they gradually recover their vitality.
How can bergamot be diagnosed by looking at its leaves?
If potted flowers are poorly managed, the leaves will turn yellow, scorch, and curl. Changes in the leaves can serve as a basis for analyzing problems in care work, and corresponding measures can be taken accordingly.
1. Young leaves turning yellow, or lower leaves curling and withering with continuous leaf drop, is generally caused by too much watering. Potted flowers should be watered by the principle of "dry then wet." If water accumulates in the flowerpot, it should not last more than half an hour, otherwise the health of the root system will be affected. Sometimes, young leaves of potted flowers turn yellow because of a lack of a certain nutrient. If the leaves turn yellow but the veins remain green, it is caused by iron deficiency. At this time, some ferrous sulfate can be applied. Using 3 parts fine sandy soil plus 1 part commercially available decomposed nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer can also be effective.
2. Old leaves turning yellow and new leaves growing very small means the potting soil lacks nitrogen or phosphorus and potassium nutrients. Some decomposed organic fertilizer or commercially available flower fertilizer tablets can be applied to supplement nutrients. If the tips of young leaves scorch, check whether the potting soil is too dry, or whether the light is too strong and the temperature too high, scorching the plant.
3. Shrinking of the growing tip of new shoots, pale yellow young leaves, and dark yellow old leaves are mostly caused by water accumulation in the potting soil, lack of oxygen, and root rot. Loosen the soil immediately, stop fertilizing, and control water. If the color of the new leaves at the growing tip is normal, while the lower leaves gradually dry, yellow, drop, or scorch from bottom to top, then it is water deficiency.
4. Scorched leaf edges are often caused by too much fertilizer and improper watering. The potting soil can be rinsed multiple times with clean water so that the fertilizer dissolved in the water flows out through the drainage holes.
5. Curled, wrinkled, and brownish leaf edges are mostly caused by indoor air being too dry. Water close to room temperature should often be used to mist the leaf surface; or the nested-pot method can be used, placing the flowerpot inside another larger pot, with wet plant ash or wet old cloth strips stuffed between the two pots, so that there is a relatively humid microclimate around the potted flower.