How to Grow Longan for High Yield? A Detailed Guide to Practical Cultivation Techniques
Longan, also known as guiyuan, is a typical tropical fruit and a very popular fruit on the market. Whether fresh longan or dried guiyuan, their market sales are quite good. In recent years, China's longan planting area has been expanding, with trial plantings in many places, and the results have been very notable. Now let us walk you through how to achieve high longan yields.
1. Select Excellent Varieties
The most basic condition for longan cultivation is the selection of seedlings. If the longan seedlings selected are of high quality, the survival rate and later yield will be much higher. China currently has more and more longan varieties, so we should choose suitable varieties according to local terrain, soil, climate and other conditions. For example, varieties such as Dongguan No. 3, Liangqing No. 1 and Qingke Baoyuan are all very good. After choosing the variety, we need to select high-quality seedlings, generally choosing those with well-developed root systems, vigorous vitality, uniform size and well-developed branches.
2. Scientific Land Preparation
Longan has relatively high requirements for the planting site, which is one reason why many places in China cannot grow longan at present. The longan planting site should be chosen in a sunny area with fertile soil, good drainage, a high groundwater level, convenient transportation and good water conservancy conditions. Then comes land preparation and afforestation; most growers use pit cultivation for land preparation. But if the land has not been cultivated for years, we had best carry out full reclamation, which can reduce later field operations and infection by pests and diseases. Then dig planting pits 60 cm in length, width and height, with a pit depth of 80 cm, add about 40 cm of farmyard manure into the pit as base fertilizer, and finally cover with a thin layer of soil.
3. Cultivation Management
The branches and leaves of the selected longan seedlings should be reasonably pruned before planting. When planting, the roots of the longan sapling must be fully spread out, then hold the sapling upright with your hands and backfill with soil. After filling the soil back, compact the ground and water it. One thing to note, however, is that when compacting the soil, never tamp it with a hoe or other tools; only press it firm with your feet.
4. Branch and Leaf Management
After the longan tree is planted, in order to promote the growth of young trees and form a complete tree shape as early as possible, we must continuously prune branches and leaves. After the longan tree enters the fruiting stage, pruning branches and leaves is also very necessary, and this greatly helps increase longan yield. Generally, we thin out dead branches, old branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, weak branches, dense branches and non-fruiting branches, and cultivate new fruiting mother branches.
5. Flower and Fruit Management
During the flowering and fruiting period of longan, we should also manage it scientifically, so as to ensure the yield and quality of longan. At the early flowering stage of longan, we should apply additional fertilizer to extend the flowering period and increase the pollination rate of longan. At the full flowering stage of longan, we should remove some residual flowers, weak flowers and diseased or pest-infested flowers to increase the fruit-setting rate of longan. After the longan sets fruit, we need to remove weak-growing fruits, densely growing fruits and deformed fruits to improve the quality of longan, and apply additional fertilizer later to promote fruit enlargement.
That is all for today's sharing on the high-yield longan planting process and methods. Generally, if you plant according to the above process, there will basically not be too many problems. Of course, if you want to learn more about longan, remember to follow us.