A Complete Guide to High-Yield Kiwifruit Cultivation Techniques
1. Variety selection: choose good varieties with large fruit, good quality, strong disease resistance and good yield, such as Hayward, Allison, Bruno, etc. 2. Site selection and orchard establishment: kiwifruit likes a cool and humid environment, fears drought, waterlogging and wind, and is cold-tolerant but not tolerant of late frost in early spring, so kiwifruit orchards in mountainous areas should be chosen on sheltered...
1. Variety selection: choose good varieties with large fruit, good quality, strong disease resistance and good yield, such as Hayward, Allison, Bruno, etc.
2. Site selection and orchard establishment: kiwifruit likes a cool and humid environment, fears drought, waterlogging and wind, and is cold-tolerant but not tolerant of late frost in early spring, so kiwifruit orchards in mountainous areas should be chosen on sheltered, sunny hillsides or open ground, and the soil should preferably be loose, well-drained sandy loam with high organic matter content and a pH of 5.5-6.5 (slightly acidic).
3. Cultivation method: before planting, dig the planting holes first, with a hole diameter of 1 m and a depth of 40-50 cm, and apply 40-60 kg of compost, 20 g of phosphate fertilizer and 400 g of calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer per hole. Planting can be done anytime from leaf fall in autumn to before bud break in spring, but late October in autumn and late February in spring, before the sap-flow period of the shoots, are best. The spacing between plants and rows is 4.6 x 6.0 m. To increase early yields, planting can be done at twice the density and thinned after the plants mature; 20% pollinator male plants should also be interplanted.
4. Trellising: pergola cultivation is generally used, including trellis-frame type, arched-tunnel type and fence type, with the horizontal pergola being the most suitable.
5. Summer management: after budding in summer, the excessively vigorous side canes should be removed. From June onward, new shoots should be tied frequently so that they evenly cover the trellis surface. Fruit-bearing canes are kept with 10-15 nodes and vegetative canes with 15-20 nodes, and all the rest are removed.
6. Hand pollination and fruit thinning: first dilute the pollen of male flowers 10-fold with lycopodium powder, then pollinate with a cotton (18955, -20.00, -0.11%) swab. In addition, male flower canes can be grafted high onto female canes, or insects can be allowed to transfer pollen. Flower and fruit thinning should be done early, with the standard being: keep 1 fruit per node on fruit-bearing canes, remove side fruits and keep the middle fruit. Leaf-to-fruit ratio can also be used as the standard, that is, keep 1 fruit for every 4-5 leaves. Generally, weak fruit canes 20 cm long keep 1-2 fruits, fruit canes 20-60 cm long keep 3-4 fruits, fruit canes over 60 cm long keep 5-6 fruits, and 20,000 fruits are kept per 1.5 mu of area.
7. Winter pruning: pruning is carried out from late December to late February of the following year. After winter pruning, generally 3-4 fruit canes and 15-16 buds are kept per mu of trellis surface. The complete tree structure per plant is: 1 trunk, 2 main branches, 3 secondary main branches, 26 side branches, 90 fruit-bearing mother canes and 315 fruit-bearing canes.
8. Scientific harvesting: kiwifruit is harvested from mid-September to mid-October. At this time the fruit is fully ripe and can be picked. When picking, handle it gently and place it down gently, and avoid squeezing or bruising it when piling it up. After harvest, it needs an 8-10 day after-ripening period before it can be eaten.
9. Pest control: kiwifruit has very strong disease and pest resistance; its main pests are small leafhoppers, bean hawkmoths and scale insects, etc., and corresponding measures should be taken to carry out control work well.