How to prevent and treat citrus sunburn? A full analysis of practical methods

Citrus sunburn, also called sunscald, is a disease that affects citrus fruit as it nears maturity. The main cause is that during the high-temperature seasons of summer and autumn, the fruit is exposed to intense sunlight, causing the fruit surface temperature to reach above 40 degrees and resulting in sunburn damage. It causes brown lesions to appear on the fruit, which gradually expand, and eventually the rind becomes hard and the flesh becomes lignified, losing its edible value and affecting growers' income. So how should sunburn be prevented and treated? Let's take a look together.

1. Irrigation to lower temperature

When high temperatures arrive, irrigate and spray the plants promptly. This replenishes the plants' nutrients in time, preventing symptoms of water deficiency caused by excessive transpiration, which would worsen sunburn. At the same time, spraying can lower the surface temperature of the fruit, leaves and branches, preventing drought stress in the tree and allowing it to grow normally.

2. Deep plowing of the orchard soil

Deeply plow the soil around the plants to more than 30 cm. This promotes robust root growth in citrus plants, thereby improving the roots' absorption capacity and reach, balancing above-ground and below-ground consumption. This helps nutrients meet the plant's growth needs and reduces the harm caused by sunburn.

3. Spraying lime water or whitewashing

We all know that whitewashing fruit trees in winter helps protect against cold and frost, but whitewashing citrus plants is also a good method here. The whitewashing should be applied to the middle and upper parts of the canopy, where sunburn is most likely to occur. For orchards with severe sunburn, you can spray the fruit and canopy surface with 1%-2% lime water to reflect strong light, but be careful about the concentration of the lime water to avoid phytotoxicity.

4. Bagging or sticking paper

At present, bagging technology is widely used in fruit cultivation. It can protect fruit from pests, diseases and strong light, and improve fruit quality, so bagging fruit when young can effectively reduce the harm of sunburn. In addition, there is an even simpler method: sticking paper. White paper is mainly used. Generally, in the early stage of sunburn, simply stick the paper on the sun-facing side of the fruit.

5. Growth regulators

When sunburn occurs, you can spray a low concentration of the efficient plant growth regulator Aiduoshu at 5000 times plus Huaguosu at 1500 times solution. This can effectively reduce the severity of sunburn, with good results.

The above is an introduction to the prevention and treatment methods for citrus sunburn. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.