How profitable is planting hawthorn trees in 2018? Sapling prices and planting methods

The hawthorn tree is a deciduous tree with leaves that are nearly ovate, and it has strong adaptability; even on thin mountain land, it grows and develops better than other fruit trees. So how profitable is planting hawthorn trees in 2018? How much does one sapling cost? What are the methods? According to Manager Wang from a nursery company in Tai'an, Shandong, it is generally 2--5 yuan per sapling; depending on the specifications of the hawthorn saplings and the order quantity, the price of hawthorn saplings varies.

How profitable is planting hawthorn trees in 2018?

Hawthorn is a fruit tree unique to China, and in recent years it has developed rapidly; the cultivated area has reached 7 million mu, accounting for about 10% of China's total fruit tree area. At present, most are newly planted trees or trees just beginning to bear fruit. Based on current yield and cultivation management conditions, it is predicted that the national total hawthorn output will reach 3 million tons. The amount of hawthorn eaten fresh is not large; its main outlet lies in processing, so growers must be sure to think through deep-processing outlets.

Through processing, hawthorn can be made into various products such as hawthorn cakes, hawthorn paste, hawthorn slices, hawthorn strips, hawthorn rolls, hawthorn jam, hawthorn juice, stir-fried hawthorn, fruit leather, hawthorn tea, sugar-coated hawthorn balls, canned hawthorn, candied hawthorn skewers, and more, with considerable economic benefits.

What are the planting methods for hawthorn?

1. Hawthorn trees can be grown by sowing. Usually wild hawthorn is used (harvested early, seeds extracted, then subjected to hot-water scalding and sun-drying treatment. The method: first wash the seeds clean, put them into 60°C water and soak them for half an hour, stirring at all times during this period so the seeds are heated evenly. Then take out the hot-water-treated seeds and put them into cold water to soak for 5 days, then take them out and sun-dry until they crack.

2. If using purchased seeds, they should be soaked in water for 24 hours, rubbed and washed, then put into 60°C water for hot-water scalding. During the day, spread the seeds on a cement yard or stone slab to sun-dry, and at night soak them in water again, repeating until more than 50% of the seeds have cracked, then carry out sand storage stratification.

3. The temperature for sand storage is 0~5°C. After 80 days of stratification, they can be sprouted and sown in the field to cultivate rootstock seedlings. Then plant them separately in the nursery according to seedling size. Before planting seedlings, plow and turn the soil, apply organic fertilizer, and make beds to retain soil moisture. After planting, water promptly and strengthen management.

4. After hawthorn saplings are planted, rooting in the same year occurs relatively late. Therefore, in the year of planting, aboveground growth is relatively weak; after the second year, once the seedlings have recovered, growth becomes vigorous, and thereafter it becomes more vigorous year by year. However, when pruning, do not make drastic cuts or leave everything just because growth is vigorous, or even fail to prune the extension shoots; this will affect the tree structure and the firmness of the framework, and affect the reasonable distribution of fruiting branches. Although it may bear fruit earlier, the fruiting area will be small and the yield low.

6. The hawthorn tree has strong adaptability; even on thin mountain land, it grows and develops better than other fruit trees. In hawthorn orchards with better fertilizer and water conditions, it is easy to obtain high yields year after year, and alternate bearing is also unlikely to occur. After hawthorn saplings are planted, they can produce a full yield in 5 years. The phenomenon of failing to bear fruit at the proper age, as with apple trees, is relatively rare.

Because hawthorn trees form flower buds easily and bear fruit early, during the young tree period, if too much fruit is borne, alternate bearing is likely to occur. For mature large trees, because the tree body stores more nutrients, as long as too much fruit is not borne, alternate bearing generally does not occur.