A Detailed Explanation of Prune Cultivation Methods and Technical Key Points

Prunes are rich in nutrients and contain no fat or cholesterol, making them a fruit suitable for men, women, young and old alike. The prunes on the market today are basically processed products, such as dried prunes, prune juice and canned prunes. In fact, prunes can also be made into salads and pastries, which are also very delicious and are the favorite of many people. So how are prunes cultivated? Today let us learn about their cultivation methods.

1. Variety Selection

There are many varieties of prunes. We generally choose varieties with large and plump fruit, good color, good taste, high yield and small stones based on the soil and climate conditions of the location. At the same time, we also need to consider the market situation for prunes and which varieties sell better. Currently, the best prune varieties on the market mainly include French Prune, Hongxi Mei, Blue Honey and Stanley, which everyone can use as a reference.

2. Site Selection and Orchard Establishment

The prune is a new type of fruit introduced to China from Europe for cultivation. Its cultivation requirements are not very high, and it can be grown in many places in China. The selection of its planting site is similar to that of traditional Chinese plum planting sites. After the planting site is selected, pit cultivation is generally carried out, but if conditions permit, full cultivation can be done, which can reduce the threat of bacteria and pests. After preparation, sufficient fertilizer is spread in each pit as base fertilizer, and then planting is carried out at a row spacing of 3 m and a plant spacing of 2 m. At the same time, a fence is built around the orchard.

3. Fertilizer and Water Management

After planting, in addition to base fertilizer, prunes generally need to be fertilized three times a year. The first is generally fertilized at the flowering stage to promote flowering, mainly using urea, with a small amount of potassium fertilizer added. The second is when the fruit is swelling, mainly using potassium fertilizer to promote fruit expansion, and an appropriate amount of foliar fertilizer needs to be sprayed and a small amount of urea applied to prevent the branches from aging. The third is fertilized after harvest, mainly using compost, which plays a good role in maintaining the prune trees and prepares for the yield of the coming year.

4. Pruning and Shaping

Prune trees need to be pruned and shaped at least once a year. When the prune tree is still young, we mainly need to prune some of the very messy branches at the bottom of the tree, cut off some old branches, and mainly retain the main branches of the prune tree so that it grows rapidly. When it grows to a certain height, pruning is carried out to make it grow new side branches and maintain a good crown and tree shape. For adult prune trees, we mainly prune the weak branches, dead branches, diseased branches and dense branches of the tree to ensure the yield of prunes.

5. Artificial Pollination

Prune trees can carry out natural pollination, but the phenomenon of physiological fruit drop is relatively serious and pollination is unstable. In order to increase the yield of prune trees, we generally use artificial assisted pollination. During the flowering stage, flower buds are collected and pollen is gathered, and then pollination is carried out on a sunny morning, which gives a higher success rate of pollination. Generally, the spot pollination method, smearing method and spraying method can be used, and even wrapping pollen in cotton cloth and tapping to pollinate is also possible.

6. Flower and Fruit Thinning

During the flowering stage, we should reasonably thin the flowers, gently tapping down some very densely growing flowers as well as diseased and weak flowers, which can ensure a reasonable fruit-setting rate. The second step is to carry out fruit thinning once after fruit setting, removing some weakly growing fruit, diseased fruit, deformed fruit and dense fruit, which can reduce the chance of fruit drop and thus improve the yield and quality of prunes.

7. Pest and Disease Control

Prunes have strong resistance, so diseases rarely occur. It is enough to spray fungicide two to three times a year at reasonable times, such as carbendazim and chlorothalonil. The most common insect pests include leaf miners, scarab beetles, caterpillars and mites. We can use trapping methods to trap and kill them, and can also use targeted pesticides for spraying and killing, such as dimethoate emulsion and trichlorfon.