New carambola variety Sweet Carambola No. 3 has arrived

We began breeding new sweet carambola varieties in the late 1980s. From 1986 to 1994, we introduced sweet carambola individual plants and scions from home and abroad. In 1992, among grafted seedlings from introduced branches, we found one individual plant (numbered 94-3) whose fruit shape and quality were markedly different from the original variety Malaysia B17. From 1993 to 1995, continuous observation and high-graft top-working cultivation trials showed that this individual plant's genetic traits were stable. From 1996 to 1998, we began propagating seedlings of this line and conducted multi-site regional cultivation trials in the suburbs of Nanning. It passed reselection and final selection, and in May 2007 passed the approval of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Crop Variety Approval Committee and was named 'Sweet Carambola No. 3'.

Variety characteristics

The tree vigor is somewhat weak, branches spread open, branchlets numerous and dense, soft and drooping. Compound leaves 8-18cm long, 9-14cm wide, leaflets mostly 9-11, ovate, leaf tip abruptly pointed. Inflorescence 2-3cm long, individual flowers relatively small, pale white-purple-red. Fruit long elliptical, fruit ridge thin, fruit tip protruding (the original variety has a thick fruit ridge and a concave fruit tip). Peel thin and smooth (the original variety's peel is somewhat rough and lusterless). Unripe fruit green, ripe fruit yellow, ridge edges green. Average single fruit mass 183g (original variety 285g). Flesh fine and crisp, few fibers, clean sweet taste, quality superior to the original variety. Soluble solids 12.6% (1.8% higher than the original variety), total sugar 8.9%, acid 0.18%.

In southern Guangxi, there are 3-4 flowering periods each year: namely, 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, ripening from mid-January to late February of the following year.

Fast growth, early fruiting. Planted that year, it flowers and sets fruit that same year; by the 2nd year it can enter formal production, with yield per plant reaching 10kg; by the 3rd year yield per plant reaches 25kg; by the 4th year it enters the full production period, with yield per plant reaching more than 36kg.

Key cultivation techniques

Suitable for planting in the southern Guangxi region. Choose loose, fertile soil on a south-facing or southeast-facing mid-to-lower slope with a relatively small gradient, and establish the orchard on gently sloping land. Use grafted seedlings, with a row spacing of 4m x 5m. Before planting, use decomposed organic fertilizer as base fertilizer. Pay attention to shaping and pruning. When the fruit is the size of a thumb, thin the fruit, removing excess small fruits, deformed fruits and diseased or insect-damaged fruits, then bag them.