What are the methods for quickly shaping fruit-bearing bonsai?

At present, as people's living standards rise day by day, fruit tree bonsai that offer the beauty of fruit, form, and trunk are increasingly favored by people. However, because cultivating fruit tree bonsai takes a long time and involves complex techniques, it often daunts people. According to the author's years of practice, it can be cultivated and shaped in just 2-3 years. It is introduced as follows:

1. Selection of containers

The most suitable container is a fine unglazed clay pot, which needs good water permeability and air permeability to ensure the oxygen requirements for root growth and to prevent root rot caused by water accumulation in the container. Generally, round shapes are preferred, so that the root system can spread evenly in all directions.

2. Grafting

First, cleft grafting. Select a branch group pruned during winter pruning (with 2-4 branches) as the scion. The rootstock can be one on which grafting failed or another dwarfing, robust rootstock. Carry out grafting one month before sap flow begins. Method: split the center of a smooth cut on the rootstock to a depth of about 3-4 cm, bevel both sides of the lower end of the scion into smooth flat surfaces 2-3 cm long, insert it into the split of the rootstock and align the cambium, then wrap and tie it tightly from bottom to top with plastic tape and string, and pot it or grow it in the ground for one year before potting. When planting, cover the graft union with soil to keep it moist; do not disturb it.

Second, root grafting. Carry this out around Qingming. Choose a robust rootstock with strong stress resistance, and use old thick trunk sections or well-shaped branch groups as the scion. Method: use bark-flap tongue grafting, and 2-4 rootstocks can be grafted.

3. Management of soil, fertilizer, and water

Potting soil: according to the different requirements of fruit trees for soil nutrients, prepare nutrient soil rich in humus needed by that fruit tree species. Before use, the culture soil should be sterilized, such as by baking sterilization or chemical sterilization (sprinkling in 1.5% formalin), etc.

Base fertilizer: base fertilizer should be mainly organic fertilizer, reasonably combined with chemical fertilizer; when potting, mix in fully decomposed organic fertilizer.

Topdressing: apply a quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer once before flowering, appropriately combined with phosphate fertilizer, watering about 1 kg of fertilizer solution per plant; after flower fall, carry out foliar topdressing, using 0.3% monopotassium phosphate plus 0.3% urea, spraying once every 15 days, 3-4 times in total; one month before fruit harvest, apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer as topdressing, applying 60 grams of monopotassium phosphate per pot.

Watering: after each topdressing, water thoroughly once; during the flowering period and young fruit period, prevent physiological flower and fruit drop caused by excessive moisture; during flower bud differentiation and fruit ripening stages, water should not be too much and should be slightly on the dry side; during the fruit enlargement period, the potting soil should be neither too dry nor too wet. During the dormant period, watering must be strictly controlled, to the extent that the potting soil is not too dry.

Repotting: because nutrients in the potting soil are leached away by frequent watering, repot promptly every 2 years and replace with new nutrient soil.

4. Crown control and shaping

Spraying: during the growth period of fruit tree bonsai, spray plant growth retardants (such as paclobutrazol, B9, chlormequat, etc.) 2-3 times to make branches thick and strong, internodes shorter, and plants dwarfed.

Choosing the tree form. For the tree form of fruit tree bonsai, according to different requirements such as the upright or pendulous nature of the species and variety, shape tree forms with rich imagination, such as double-branch antler form, three-branch cup form, single-branch cliff-hanging form, dragon-curved form, weeping willow form, etc. For shaping and pruning in summer, promptly pinch buds, remove buds, pull branches, twist shoots, etc., to coordinate the nutrient supply between branches and fruit and promote flower bud differentiation. Also, by opening branch angles and thinning out water shoots, dense branches, and ineffective branches, enhance light exposure and create the ideal tree form. After grafting survives and grows normally, to enhance the aged appearance of the bonsai, use a grafting knife to carve several curved lines on the trunk. During the growing season, wire can be wrapped around the fruit tree branches to fix the desired tree form.

5. Flower and fruit management

When there are many flower buds, thin flowers during the bud swelling stage and thin fruit after the physiological fruit drop period; if there are few flower buds, keep more flowers. At the same time, carry out artificial pollination.

6. Pest and disease control

In pest and disease control, adhere to the principle of "prevention first, combining prevention and control." Especially during the growing season, every 20-30 days, spray 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder at 800 times dilution or 65% zineb wettable powder at 500 times dilution to prevent disease. You can use 2.5% buprofezin at 1800 times dilution and 20% pyridaben at 2000 times dilution to control aphids, red spiders, and other pests on fruit tree bonsai.