Planting techniques of carambola

Carambola, also known as carambola, five convergence seeds, carambola, etc., is a small evergreen tree of the Oxalis family. The fruit has a very high nutritional value. It is native to Malaysia and Indonesia, and is now widely planted in the tropics. Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Yunnan and other places in China are cultivated. Let's take a look at the planting techniques of carambola.

Growth habits of carambola

Carambola trees like high temperature and humid climate and are not resistant to cold. It is suitable to be cultivated in loam with deep soil layer, loose and fertile soil and rich in humus. Like high temperature and humidity, afraid of frost and drought, long drought and dry and hot wind cause falling flowers and fruits, like half-shade but avoid strong sunshine, especially in flowering and young fruit stage, like breeze but afraid of typhoon, fruit stalks are delicate, typhoons cause a large number of falling flowers and fruits. The seedlings stopped growing when the temperature was below 15 ℃, and chilling injury occurred below 10 ℃, which affected flower bud differentiation, fruit development, yield and quality. Shoots began to grow above 15 ℃, and the flowering temperature was above 27 ℃. It has wide adaptability and can be planted in areas with annual rainfall of 1500mm to 3000mm. The requirement of soil is not strict, all kinds of soil can grow, but the soil layer is deep and fertile sandy loam is better, and the pH value is between 5.5 and 6.5.

Cultivated varieties of carambola

1. Malaysian sweet carambola: Malaysian sweet carambola has tall plants, fast growth, high fruiting rate, crispy residue juice and sweet taste, with a single fruit weight of 200kg / 300g, long oval fruit with 5 edges, thick fruit edges, edible rate of 96%, excellent quality and resistance to storage and transportation.

2. American red carambola: American red carambola is similar to Malaysian carambola, with cylindrical tree shape, slightly hard and crisp leaflets, pink long leaves, purplish red inflorescence, single fruit weighs 150g to 250g, and good fresh quality.

3. Taiwan carambola: Taiwan carambola can be smoked 5-6 times a year. In the high temperature and rainy season, there is no intermittent period for shoot growth, showing early fruiting and high yield. the single fruit weighs 150 to 200 grams, and the meat is tender, juicy and sweet.

Propagation methods of carambola

1. Grafting propagation: carambola is most commonly used for patch bud grafting, cutting and splitting grafting. Spring (February-May) and autumn (September-October) are the most suitable periods for grafting. Grafted seedlings are planted to maintain good maternal quality. Except for cold weather, they can be planted all the year round, with planting specifications of 3 × 4 meters or 3 × 5 meters, with 40 trees per mu, and can be thinned after crown grafting.

2. Striping propagation: carambola aerial striping propagation is commonly known as circle branch, barge branch, Chinese striping method, etc., which is the first traditional asexual propagation method in China, which has the advantages of simple operation, quick seedling formation and early fruit. and can maintain the excellent characters of the mother tree and so on.

Planting techniques of carambola

1. Selecting land to build a garden: if carambola is planted in mountainous areas, it is appropriate to choose southward or southeastward sloping land with irrigated water, good soil quality and small slope. The construction of flat land garden generally requires the excavation of drainage and irrigation ditches, the depth should be determined according to the level of groundwater level, and should be excavated and improved year by year.

2. Planting density: carambola can be planted in three ways: 3 × 4 m, 3 × 5 m or 4 × 4 m. Before planting, large planting holes should be dug and sufficient rotten organic matter fertilizer should be applied as base fertilizer. The planting holes in flat orchards are 50 cm deep and 50 cm wide, while those with poor soil quality can be deepened and widened properly. the planting holes in mountain orchards are 1 meter deep and 1 meter wide, and need to be enlarged and improved year by year after planting.

Maintenance and management of carambola

1. Early shaping: the main goal of carambola is to cultivate a compact round-headed crown. After planting, the young trees are trimmed at 40-50 cm from the ground, and 3-4 evenly distributed main branches are left after shoots. When the main branches are 30-40 cm long, each branch has 2-3 buds. Due to the strong ability of carambola to shoot and branch, the carambola is shaped according to this principle, with the increase of the number of branches. A high-yielding crown can be formed after spring planting to the end of the next year. In the process of shaping, the thin and weak branches can be fixed with bamboo branches or string to prevent sagging, and the main branches can be evenly distributed.

2. Fruit pruning: carambola fruit pruning should be light rather than heavy, and the middle and lower branches should be retained as far as possible, so that they are arranged in layers, branches and leaves are evenly distributed, and the density is moderate. For young and middle-aged fruiting trees, it is appropriate to remove overlord branches, remove some vegetative branches in the upper part of the crown to inhibit growth, and pay attention to cutting thumb thick branches in different directions year by year, so as to maintain strong tree momentum and ensure annual yield. For the old and weak trees, the upper branches of the crown can be cultivated to shade the trunk, and the overgrown branches can be fully used to fill the gap in the crown and renew the old branches.

3. Drainage irrigation: the distribution of absorbing roots of carambola is shallow, and it is easy to be affected by external conditions, so it should be irrigated in time in the dry and high temperature season, cover the tree plate with weeds, keep the soil moist and reduce the soil temperature to adapt to the normal growth of roots. Carambola roots are not resistant to flooding, which can lead to rotten roots, fallen leaves and fruit for a long time, so the drainage ditch should be dredged and the groundwater level should be lowered before the rainy season. Mountain orchards should expand holes and improve soil in time to prevent stagnant water.