Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Wax Apple Orchard Management Techniques
Wax apple is a tropical and subtropical fruit, native to Malaysia, Taiwan, China, and Hainan, China, among other places, and is a famous and high-quality fruit of its native regions. As wax apple has entered inland cities of China in recent years, it has attracted more and more attention, and its price is also very eye-catching, with one kilogram of wax apple reaching 60 or even over a hundred yuan. This has attracted many people to rush to plant it, but after all, it is a fruit that lives in the tropics, and it is not easy to grow. Nor do people know how to manage it. Below, the editor brings you information about orchard management of wax apple.
1. Shaping and pruning
After planting wax apple, keep the main trunk, cut off entirely the upper part about 0.6 m above the ground, and select some strongly growing, evenly distributed new shoots from the part more than 0.25 m above the ground as the main body of growth. Apart from leaving a few auxiliary nurturing branches, cut off all the rest, then erect a pole beside the plant and tie the main branches to it, then begin shaping according to the natural open-center form at a 45-degree angle. The purpose of shaping and pruning is to set the tree form of wax apple well and enhance the airiness between trees. If planting winter-spring varieties, then short pruning should begin every year at the Start of Spring, cutting off all the plant's leaves as well as diseased and dead branches, excessive vegetative branches, and other useless branches, leaving the branches needed for growth in the second year.
2. Fertilizer and water management
Wax apple has a very large demand for fertilizer and water. In the early stage of planting, more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be applied. During the flower bud differentiation stage, care should be taken not to apply too much nitrogen fertilizer. For small fruits, the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be strengthened to ensure the normal growth of wax apple. Water should be reasonable. Apart from maintaining dry conditions in autumn to favor flower bud differentiation, a moist state should be maintained at all other times. If dryness is found, water promptly, as lack of water will cause flower and fruit drop in wax apple. When there is a large fruit set, an appropriate amount of foliar fertilizer can be sprayed during the fruit-bearing stage. Wax apple is mostly planted in coastal areas, where the soil has high salinity. Fresh water can be used to reduce the salt content in the soil and promote normal growth of the plants.
3. Flower and fruit thinning
Wax apple has a very large number of flowers and fruits. Under normal conditions, a tree of about five years can reach two thousand flower spikes. In order to speed up fruit development, effectively enlarge the fruit, and improve the fruit skin quality, when selecting fruit-bearing positions, flower spikes with good development should be chosen, and the flower spikes at the tips of long branches should be removed. Also, care should be taken to avoid physical damage such as scratching and sunburn, and to remove inferior fruits. When removing flower spikes, first cut off the flower spikes growing upward and keep the flower spikes growing horizontally. The purpose is to prevent the fruit stalk from breaking under weight after the fruit enlarges. Then begin bagging about three weeks after flowering, but before bagging, care should be taken to disinfect the whole orchard to prevent and control diseases.
4. Disease control
Pests and diseases are the most harmful problem for all fruits, and wax apple is no exception. The diseases that threaten wax apple are mainly anthracnose and fruit rot. Pests include fruit flies, scarab beetles, and others. But wax apple is also a fruit relatively sensitive to pesticides, so when controlling pests and diseases, care should be taken with the use of pesticides. Agents such as carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl can be used instead of pesticides for control. After harvest, the orchard should be comprehensively disinfected, and the soil should be plowed to reduce sources of disease. When selecting seeds, also choose those with strong disease resistance or soak the seeds for disinfection, effectively reducing the incidence of disease.
The above is the orchard management technology for wax apple during the planting period. The market price of wax apple is very high, even comparable to mangosteen. Moreover, people now have a high degree of acceptance of new things and have strong impressions of the taste and appearance of wax apple. But the biggest drawback of planting is that wax apple is only suitable for planting in the tropics and subtropics, and a temperate climate is not suitable for planting wax apple. So planting friends who do not live in a tropical climate can only consider other projects.