How to cultivate and manage dragon fruit efficiently

I. Establishment of a garden

Dragon fruit is more heat-resistant, water-resistant, like warm, humid, rich in organic matter sandy soil. Before nursery stock cultivation, according to the specification of 1.5 meters × 2 meters per mu, 10 × 10 × 250 cm cement square columns were erected, and the cement columns were put into the soil of 50 cm to support the climbing of dragon fruit branches. The cement column was drilled straight holes on both sides of the cement column at 5 cm away from the top, leading two vertical wire crosses for dragon fruit branches to climb. In order to prevent the branches from being overloaded or broken by the wind, a fixed waste tire should be put on the cross to support the branches. The planting holes of 10 cm deep and 20 cm long and 20 cm wide were dug on each side of the cement column, in which rotten organic fertilizer and soil were mixed evenly, 1 plant was planted in each hole, and 4 plants were planted beside each cement column.

II. Colonization

The dragon fruit can be planted all the year round, and 4 plants are planted around each column, allowing the dragon fruit plant to grow upward along the column. According to the calculation of planting 4 seedlings per column, 450 seedlings can be planted with 667 square meters, which can greatly improve the land utilization rate, increase the fruit yield in childhood and recover the investment cost early. Planting should not be deeply planted (3 cm deep is appropriate). The soil should be kept moist at the initial stage.

III. Water and fertilizer management

The dragon fruit is more drought-tolerant. At the initial stage of planting, it is watered once every 3 days, and then the soil can be kept moist. The root distribution of dragon fruit is shallow, and fertilization should be applied for a few times to prevent root burning and rotting. After the seedling germinates, thin human feces and urine can be applied in the planting hole about 10 cm away from the seedling, about 1 kg per plant, and then 0.3% urea and 0.1% potassium chloride will be added to each germination until the dragon fruit blossoms. In the first year, there were 8 times of fertilization, mainly nitrogen fertilizer, combined with potassium, calcium, magnesium phosphate fertilizer and so on. Cover with once mature organic fertilizer or mushroom residue in winter, about 10 kg per plant to enhance the heat preservation and cold resistance of the plant. After flowering and fruiting, fertilizer was applied three times a year, that is, pre-flowering fertilizer in April, strong fruit fertilizer in August and overwintering fertilizer in December, mainly mature organic fertilizer and ternary compound fertilizer.

IV. Field cultivation management

The dragon fruit begins to blossom and bear fruit about 14 months after planting, and can blossom 15 times a year. The fruit period is from April to November, and the fruit can be harvested in 40 days after Xie Hua. The weight of a single fruit is generally 500ml / 1000 g. In the second year after planting, there were more than 20 fruits per column, and the third year entered the full fruit period. if the management level was high, the yield of 667m2 could reach more than 2500 kg, and the early fruit yield was good.

Frequent application of thin fertilizer: due to the long harvest period of fruit, organic fertilizer should be re-applied every year, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer should be applied evenly for a long time. Potassium and magnesium fertilizers should be added during flowering and fruiting period to promote sugar accumulation and improve fruit quality. Keep the soil moist during the fruiting period, and the tree plate is covered with grass or mushroom residue. When the weather is dry, 3mer will be irrigated once a day.

Shape pruning: it is appropriate for the branch to maintain single branch growth before climbing to the top of the cement column, and after growing to the top of the column (1.3-1.4 meters), it should be coring, promote branching, and let the branches droop naturally, accumulate nutrients, and blossom and bear fruit early. The natural germination power of dragon fruit with good growth is higher, generally 5 new branches can be produced from each branch, in order to increase or decrease the strong fruit branches, during the vegetative growth period every year, each branch can leave 3 branches with strong growth according to the growth situation; during the reproductive growth period, in order to ensure the nutritional requirements of fruit development, all the newly germinated branches should be removed.

Interplanting and artificial pollination: when planting red meat type dragon fruit, it is necessary to plant about 10% white meat type dragon fruit. Mutual pollination among varieties can significantly improve the seed setting rate. Artificial pollination should be carried out in cloudy and rainy weather. Before the flowers bloom in the evening or before the flowers are closed in the morning, the pollen can be directly applied to the female flower stigma with a writing brush to increase the fruit setting rate.

Flower and fruit thinning: the dragon fruit has a long flowering period and strong flowering ability. it will blossom from May to October, with an average of 2.7 buds per flowering season. After pollination and fertilization is normal, the withered flowers can be cut off by ring carving (retain the sepals below the stigma and ovary). Fruit thinning began when the transverse diameter of the young check reached about 2 cm. Each branch left a young fruit with full development, bright green color, no damage and deformity, and a certain growth space, and the rest were thinned to concentrate nutrients and promote fruit growth.

Fruit bagging: the peel should be bagged with waste newspapers or Kraft paper bags before changing color, so as to keep the pericarp evenly colored and prevent birds, wasps and other bites as well as wind scraping and sun exposure to improve commodity value.

Timely harvest: fruit growth period varies with production season, burial location and variety. Generally, it can be harvested about 45 days after flowering. Harvesting too late will not only cause fruit cracking, but also cause the local color of the pericarp to blacken, affecting the commodity value. Fruits that need to be stored for a long time or transported over a long distance should be harvested before softening and darkening.