How good is Big Fruit Sweet Carambola No. 1? Introduction to its variety characteristics

Approval number: Gui Shen Guo 2007002

Variety name: Big Fruit Sweet Carambola No. 1

Breeding unit: Horticulture Research Institute, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Variety source: Big Fruit Sweet Carambola No. 1 is a superior single plant selected from the Malaysian sweet carambola B10 series.

Characteristics: branches are spreading, branchlets numerous and dense, slightly upright. Leaves are odd-pinnately compound, 11-20 cm long, 8-14 cm wide, alternate; leaflets number 7-15, mostly 11, alternate or opposite; leaflets ovate, leaf blade asymmetrical, one side of the base broad and bluntly rounded, the other side of the base narrowly oblique, the leaflet at the tip of the compound leaf is the largest. Flowers are racemes, axillary, 2-3 cm long, each inflorescence has more than ten to several dozen flowers. Flowers are small, about 8 mm long, corolla diameter about 4 mm, bell-shaped, petals 5, purplish red and fragrant; stamens 10, the outer whorl of 5 short and underdeveloped, lacking anthers, only the inner whorl of 5 has pollen; pistil 1, ovary superior, with 5 locules, each locule has 1-3 seeds. The fruit is a fleshy berry, long fusiform, the central tip of the fruit slightly protruding and blunt, generally 5-ribbed, star-shaped in cross section, peel thin and smooth, with waxy luster, unripe fruit green, golden yellow when ripe. Average single fruit weight is 221 g, flesh texture fine, few fibers, taste fresh and sweet, soluble solids in flesh 8%-12.5%, total organic acid content 0.2%-0.35%.

When planted in southern Guangxi, there are 3-4 flowering and fruiting periods each year: flowering from mid-to-late May to early June, fruit ripening from mid-to-late August to early September; flowering from mid-to-late July to mid-August, initial ripening from mid-October to early November; flowering from late October to mid-November, harvest from mid-January to late February of the following year.

Yield performance: planted in the same year, it flowers and bears fruit in the same year; in the second year it can officially enter production, with yield per plant reaching 15 kg; in the third year yield per plant reaches 30 kg; in the fourth year it can enter the full production period, with yield per plant reaching more than 50 kg.

Key points of cultivation techniques: 1. Prune twice each year, the first time after fruit harvest in autumn and winter until before spring buds sprout, the second time in late May. 2. Before April each year, after fruit harvest, apply fertilizer to promote shoots, promoting shoots and strengthening flowers. Apply fruit-strengthening fertilizer after flower drop. 3. Carambola roots are not tolerant of waterlogging, so before the rainy season, dredge drainage ditches to prevent water accumulation and root rot. When planting on dry sloping land, irrigate promptly during prolonged drought so that the soil remains constantly moist. 4. Keep only two flower spikes per small branch; when the fruit is the size of a thumb, thin the fruit, removing excess small fruits, deformed fruits, and diseased and insect-damaged fruits.

Approval opinion: after review, this variety has relatively great application value in production and has passed approval; it can be planted according to local conditions in southern Guangxi and southeastern Guangxi.