How to hand-pollinate apples? A detailed explanation of the key techniques
Apples are a major fruit tree grown in China, and China is a major apple-producing country every year. When growing apple trees, because apples have poor self-pollination ability, farmers who grow apples need to strengthen the pollination work for apples in order to obtain a high yield. So how do you hand-pollinate apples? Come and take a look with the editor.
1. Selecting varieties and collecting flowers
Before pollination, first select a variety with strong compatibility with the main cultivated variety as the flower-collecting pollination variety. The plants from which flowers are collected are required to have a large number of flowers and to be at the initial flowering stage. The flower collection time is generally 2-3 days before pollination, collecting bell flowers or newly opened flowers, mainly side flowers. After collecting the flowers, do not pile them together, so as to avoid excessive respiration leading to rot. When extracting pollen, rub two flowers against each other, keep the anthers, remove impurities, then spread the anthers on paper and place them on a 20-30 degree heated kang to bake until they split open, then take out the pollen. The pollen can be placed in a desiccator or a container with quicklime, and can also be stored in a refrigerator or cold storage.
2. Point pollination method
When more than half of the central flowers on the apple tree have opened, point pollination can be carried out on the same day. The tools for point pollination can be a writing brush, a rubber-tipped pencil, a cigarette filter, etc. Mix the prepared pollen with 3-5 times its amount of talcum powder or starch as a filler, then use the tool to dip the pollen and pollinate each flower one by one. It should be noted that when pollinating, the central flowers of the side and lower inflorescences should be point-pollinated, and too many flowers should not be point-pollinated on the terminal flower of a medium or short branch on a single branch.
3. Dusting method
Although the point pollination method has a high fruit-setting rate, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive and is not suitable for large orchards, so the dusting method emerged. Add apple pollen to 10-50 times its amount of talcum powder or starch, and stir evenly. Use a dusting tool to spray it on opened flowers, but note that windy weather should be avoided.
4. Spraying method
In addition to the dusting method, there is also a spraying method. Pollen, sucrose and borax are mixed in a certain proportion into a suspended aqueous solution. The proportion is generally 5 kg of water, 15 g of urea, 15 g of borax, 250 g of sucrose, and 15-20 g of dry pollen. When more than half of the fruit trees in the orchard have their central flowers open, that is the best pollination time. The spraying method can be carried out for three consecutive days, once a day, mixing as you spray.
The above is an introduction to hand-pollination techniques for apples. I hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please keep following us.