How does the 'Dinosaur Egg' plumcot perform when introduced in Tianshui, Gansu?

We introduced the new plumcot cultivar 'Dinosaur Egg' from the Economic Forestry Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, planted the seedlings in the trial orchard in March of that year, they fruited the following year, and entered full bearing in the 4th year, with high economic returns. The introduction performance and key cultivation techniques are described below.

(1) Introduction performance ① Fruit economic traits The fruit is nearly round, with a longitudinal diameter of 5.5-6.3cm, a transverse diameter of 5.6-6.6cm, an average single fruit weight of 120.0g, and a maximum single fruit weight of 145.0g. The skin is yellow-red, the flesh is pink, the texture is crisp, the stone clings, coarse fiber is low, juice is abundant, the flavor is sweet and fragrant, and the quality is superior, with a soluble solids content of 17.80%. It is tolerant of storage and transport and can be stored for 20 days at room temperature. ② Growth and fruiting habits The tree is vigorous, with an open tree posture, a high sprouting rate, strong branching ability, easy sprouting of axillary buds, and thick strong shoots. In the 4th year after planting, the tree height was 2.7m, the crown spread was 2.8m x 2.5m, the trunk circumference was 25.4cm, the average new shoot length was 130cm, and the sprouting rate was 90.6%. It fruits mainly on short fruit spurs, and the fruit-setting rates of inflorescences and flowers were 90.2% and 43.1%, respectively. It fruited in the 2nd year after planting, with 92.7% of trees bearing fruit, and in the 4th year the average yield per tree was 38.2kg, with a yield of 2101kg per 667 sq m. There is no preharvest fruit drop, and it is high-yielding and stable-yielding. ③ Phenology In Qinzhou District, Tianshui City, the flower bud swelling stage is March 28 to April 2, the flowering stage is April 3-20, the leaf bud swelling stage is April 5-10, and the leaf expansion stage is April 12-18. The fruit begins to color in late August, and the maturity stage is mid-September, making it a mid-season cultivar. The leaf-fall stage is mid-November. ④ Stress resistance It has shown good adaptability at multiple trial sites. It has relatively strong cold resistance. In 2006, during the full flowering stage of the plumcot, our district suffered a moderate-intensity late frost, with the temperature dropping to -2 to -4°C, yet the flower freezing rate was only 9.5%, and the tree grew normally.

(2) Key cultivation techniques 'Dinosaur Egg' has a low self-fruit-setting rate and requires pollinizer trees; the suitable pollinizer cultivars are 'Weiwang' and 'Weihou'. Generally, the row and plant spacing is 4m x 2-3m, with 55-83 trees planted per 667 sq m. The suitable tree form is the open-center improved leader form. When pruning young trees, leave the scaffold limbs and cut them back to 40-50cm; the 2nd bud below the cut on the main branch is a competing shoot, and if the leader is not to be changed, it should be removed; the remaining branches can be regarded as auxiliary nurturing branches and should be bent and pulled from late May to late June to promote the development of medium and short shoots. In full-bearing trees, thinning and light pruning should be the main methods, with as little heading-back as possible, avoiding overly heavy pruning, and removing water sprouts, overly dense branches, crossing branches, etc. in the inner canopy and all parts of the crown. At the same time, branch pulling should be carried out each year in May-June or August-September; the opening angle at the base of the main branches is generally 70-80°, and other branches with space should be pulled flat as auxiliary nurturing branches and extended in a single axis to control vigor, promote flower bud formation, and favor early fruiting. This cultivar has relatively large fruit, so in an on-year, flower and fruit thinning must be strict, leaving a single fruit at 15-20cm spacing when the fruit is set; in an off-year, protect flowers and fruit to adjust the alternate bearing phenomenon. After entering full bearing, increase fertilizer and water management to prevent tree decline.