How to grow Sichuan pepper for higher yields? Old Li teaches you the three-character formula

Li Maolin, 66, of Gutian Village, Youchou Town, has grown Sichuan pepper for only three years, but his pepper grove reached a yield of 2,000 jin per mu this year. At the current purchase price of 7.2 yuan per jin, his income per mu can exceed 14,000 yuan.

A few days ago, a reporter walked into Old Li's pepper grove for an on-the-spot look, and listened to him explain his pepper "three-character formula."

1. Ruthless

"The first key to growing Sichuan pepper is to be ruthless!" In Old Li's pepper field, the first piece of experience he described surprised the reporter quite a bit.

Seeing the reporter's puzzled look, Old Li immediately explained: "Ruthless" means that when pruning branches and removing buds, you must harden your heart and resolutely cut off the branches and new buds that are not suitable to keep, so as to preserve enough nutrients for the fruit-bearing branches.

Old Li said that many pepper growers, when pruning, often cannot bear to cut and keep too many branches and tender buds, believing that the more branches there are, the more fruit they will bear, but the final result is exactly the opposite.

2. Precise

"Second is to be precise." Old Li said his second piece of Sichuan pepper growing experience is to be "precise," carrying out management work well in the corresponding seasons.

"For example, when new buds have just emerged, remove them in time to prevent too many nutrients from being wasted. Before flowering, finish spraying pesticide in time to prevent pests and diseases from being carried into the flowering period." Old Li said that in Sichuan pepper growing, about 10 days generally makes up one season, and if you miss the seasonal management, it will affect the pepper tree's nutrient absorption and the degree of lignification of the branches, ultimately affecting fruit set and yield.

Old Li told the reporter that his family grows an area of 6 mu, with more than 600 pepper trees in total. Because the area is not large, he can keep up with each management period in time, ensuring the overall growth of the Sichuan pepper.

3. Willing to spend

"The most important thing is to be willing to spend." Old Li said that the most important reason his pepper trees grow faster and bear more fruit than those grown by many pepper growers is that he is willing to invest in fertilizer.

Old Li said that last year, for his more than 600 pepper trees, in addition to using 2.5 jin of fertilizer per tree (including phosphate fertilizer and special-purpose fertilizer), he also got up early and stayed up late to carry more than 100 loads of farmyard manure to "feed" them.

As for his experience in growing Sichuan pepper, Old Li also made up a little rhyme: "Sichuan pepper is a treasure, fertilizer coaxes it along, be ruthless when removing buds, and the branches are the treasure."

"Hey! Everyone pay attention, take a break, no more picking." As the interview was about to end, Old Li suddenly called out to the workers in the pepper grove.

Only after asking did the reporter learn that Old Li has a special rule: no picking from 12 noon to 4 in the afternoon. "Because the sun is strong during this period, picking the branches will hurt the pepper trees." Old Li's love for the pepper trees was evident in his words.