How to Grow Black Plums
The black plum is a variety of plum and a new type of premium fruit variety introduced into China from the United States. The flesh of the black plum is thicker than that of ordinary plums, the color is vivid, the flavor is sweet and fragrant, and it also stores and transports well, making it very popular in China. At present, black plums in China are mainly grown in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian. So, is the growing method for black plums the same as for ordinary plum trees? Let's take a look at how to grow them below.
1. Orchard site construction
The black plum has the characteristics of strong adaptability to the environment, good disease resistance, tolerance to saline-alkali soil, and intolerance of waterlogging. It is generally suitable for hills, slopes, terraced fields, and flat land with higher terrain, good drainage, a low groundwater table, and good water and fertilizer retention. Except for flat land, other planting sites are generally dug into planting holes according to the terrain, and sufficient base fertilizer is applied. Flat land, however, needs ditching first to build a good drainage system, and then hole digging and base fertilizer application are carried out, ready for planting.
2. Scientific planting
Black plums are generally planted in March each year. Of course, they can also be planted in autumn when the leaves fall, but the survival rate is higher with spring planting. The planting holes are generally dug at a row spacing of 3 m and a plant spacing of 2 m to 3 m, and pollinator trees are configured and planted in a reasonable ratio, which helps increase the success rate of pollination, generally at a ratio of 8 to 1. Each mu can generally plant 70 to more than 100 black plum trees, but at most no more than 110.
3. Fertilizer and water management
During the young tree stage of black plums, we always fertilize according to the principle of frequent application of light fertilizer. Each fertilization should be combined with watering, and intertillage and weeding should be carried out reasonably. During this period, manure and urine water are mainly used to promote the growth of young trees, and urea also needs to be used reasonably, with at least five or six topdressings each year. Black plums generally bear fruit in three years, and for black plums in the fruiting stage, we mainly use organic fertilizer and combine it with special fruit tree fertilizer. Before flowering, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers are applied as topdressing; during the fruit stage, foliar fertilizer is sprayed, with potassium fertilizer as the main fertilizer; after harvesting, base fertilizer should be applied in time to ensure the fruit tree yield for the coming year.
4. Fruit tree management
Black plums are generally pruned and trained in the natural open-center form. First, we need to retain 3 to 4 main trunks. When the main trunks grow to about 50 to 60 cm, the terminal buds are removed to promote the growth of side branches, gradually cultivating secondary main trunks, tertiary main trunks, and reserve branches, etc. Second, according to the growth of the fruit tree, dense branches should be reasonably thinned out, and diseased branches, dead branches, etc. should be pruned cleanly, so that the fruit tree maintains a good primary-secondary relationship. The management of the flowering and fruiting stages of black plums is very important. Reasonable flower thinning is carried out half a month after flowering. About 25 days after flowering, fruit thinning can be carried out, retaining a single fruit.
The above is the growing method for black plums. That is all the editor wants to introduce to you today. I hope it can help everyone. If you want to learn more about black plums, please continue to follow us.