Features of growing Chinese plums: planting and care

Chinese plum is rarely grown in our gardens, but there are still enthusiasts who try to tame it. After all, it always pleases with juicy and tasty fruits, gives a beautiful and lush flowering, early fruiting. In addition, the types of these plums easily adapt to virtually any geographic conditions, are hardy, resistant to diseases and pests.

Characteristic and difference of Chinese plums

Chinese plum, according to the descriptions of the reference books of gardeners, belongs to the genus Prunus L. of the Rosaceae family. This genus includes more than four dozen different types of plums. It is grown as a cultivated plant, but can also be found in the wild. In the latter case, it is easy to detect in the vast North America, South-West and Western Asia.

Chinese plum is a tree that grows up to 12 m in height. It has a straight trunk, on which are spread branches. The bark of the tree is purple-brown or red-brown. Straight thick shoots are bare, they grow small and medium leaves of elongated shape with a rounded base, a sharp tip and a ribbed edge. They grow up to 12 cm in length and 5 cm in width, have a dark green shiny surface.

By the nature of flowering and fruiting, Chinese plums have a noticeable difference from home plums. The Chinese equivalent blooms much earlier (in April), rapidly and densely covered with buds. On an annual tree, fruits are rare, and on older ones they appear on spurs or bouquets.

White flowers are located in the axils of the leaves, on average, three pieces, bloom before the leaves appear on the tree. With successful pollination fruits abundantly.Conical, heart-shaped or spherical fruits come in various shades: from bright red to yellow. The flesh is juicy, sweet and sour, it grows together with the bone. Some gardeners believe that Chinese plum is inferior in taste to homemade, while others, on the contrary, note its special taste.

Pros and cons of Chinese plums

From the above description can highlight the main advantages of plums. It is covered with color earlier than others, respectively, it begins to bear fruit earlier. Harvest gives abundant. Fruits are attractive in appearance and taste, tolerate transportation. Also, the tree is resistant to diseases and pests.

However, this fruit tree has its drawbacks. Also early flowering can be caught by late frosts, and then you should not count on a good harvest. During flowering, not so many bees and other insects, so pollinating the plum is hard enough. Harvested, though easily transported, but can not be dried. The bark at the root collar often subsides on the bark, which has a detrimental effect on the tree.

Pollination of Chinese plums

As already mentioned, the Chinese plum has difficulty pollinating. Besides the fact that in early spring there are few insects that would pollinate the flowers, so most of the varieties of this tree require a number of pollinators. In this role plum is best served. But if you plant several varieties of Chinese plum nearby, pollination will also occur.

With successful pollination, ovaries appear on almost every flower. Therefore, the fruits literally stick around each branch, growing tightly to each other.

When and where is better to plant on the site

If you are interested in Chinese plum, we will tell you how to grow a tree on your site. It is necessary to choose for it a place that is well lit and warmed by the sun’s rays, but at the same time is closed from drafts. Therefore, the ideal place would be an open hill. Well, if the tree will be closed from the north side of the wall.

The soil should be gray, clay, forest or black soil with an alkaline or neutral environment. It is important that the soil be rich in calcium.

For planting take a sapling at least one year old. And if home plums are planted in the spring, then the Chinese plum requires planting in the fall. Its root system is better adapted to lower temperatures, so during the winter the tree has time to take root and develop roots, and in the spring it directs all the vital sap to the growth and formation of the crown.

Preparatory work before landing

Place for landing should be prepared for a few days. The territory is dug up with the introduction of 700 g of dolomite flour per square meter into the ground. This will help reduce soil acidity, if necessary. The pit is formed not less than 18 days before disembarkation. Recommended length and width - 70 cm, depth - not less than 60 cm. On the day of planting, the seedling must be cleaned by removing dried roots and broken branches. Then the roots are immersed in the clay solution for at least an hour. Some gardeners recommend leaving it there for five hours. In the clay, you can add the drug "Epin" to stimulate the growth of a tree or a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate.

If several trees are being prepared for planting, please note that the distance between them should be at least 1.5 meters, and between the rows - 2 meters.

Process and landing scheme

The first 20 cm of soil that is removed from the pit are set aside separately - this is the most fertile layer of soil. It is mixed with an equal amount of peat, humus, compost or manure. At the bottom of the pit of the land available there form a mound, into which a peg is inserted 15–20 cm from the center. The peg should protrude 70 cm from the pit.

It is recommended to add a mixture of 10 liters of manure, 300 g of superphosphates and 50 g of potassium salt to the pit. The seedling is lowered into the hole so that the root neck protrudes 7 cm above the surface. The roots in the pit must be carefully straightened.

After this, the pit is filled up to half, the ground is tamped and poured over with a bucket of water. If the ground is badly compacted, voids are formed there, due to which the roots of the plant are dried. After that, the remaining soil is filled up and a hole is formed around the seedling (about 40 cm in diameter). The seedling must be tied to a peg and watered (at least three buckets of water). When moisture is absorbed to prevent its evaporation, it is necessary to pour peat or sawdust about 5 cm high around the tree.The first watering after planting is carried out after about two weeks.

Features care for Chinese plums

Chinese plum, like any other plant, requires certain rules of cultivation.

Soil care

The plant copes well with a brief drought, but in spring and summer during periods of intense heat, frequent watering is necessary. Spend it at the rate of a bucket per square meter of the crown projection.

After watering, it is recommended to loosen the soil to a depth of 5 cm. Do not forget about mulching the tree trunk with wood chips, compost or peat in a layer of about 8 to 12 cm.

Feedings

In the spring, when the plant begins to actively develop, nitrogen fertilizers are applied to help the tree form new shoots. It is recommended to take 25 g of ammonium nitrate, the same amount of urea and two kilograms of mullein per square meter.All this is bred in a bucket of water, and this is how the plant is watered.

In the summer, the tree is fed several times with a mixture of ash (200 g per square meter), potassium (20 g) and phosphorus (60 g). At the beginning of autumn it is recommended to add 15 - 20 g of nitroammofoski.

Trimming rules

Chinese plum requires periodic pruning. The first is carried out immediately after disembarkation, when the seedling is shortened to about half its growth. This helps the tree to get used to new conditions faster and actively develop new shoots. Then, in winter and early spring, the drying branches are cut off. In the southern regions pruning can be done in the fall.

It is also recommended to carry out the forming pruning in the spring. Immediately after the last frost, shoots that grow upward and those that thicken the crown are removed. After that, the shoots of the last year are half shortened.

Do not forget to use sharp and disinfected tools for pruning, and trim the trimmed places with a garden pitch.

Wintering plums

On the eve of winter, it is necessary to collect all the fallen leaves around the foliage, remove it from the site and burn it.Pristvolnye circles need to dig.

An adult tree easily tolerates winter without shelter, but young trees at the age of 2-3 years should be tied with sackcloth or lapnik in two layers. Do not use synthetic materials for this, as the plant will disappear under them.

Possible diseases and pests of Chinese plums

The advantage of a tree is that it is resistant to diseases that fruit trees often suffer from. But still, sometimes Chinese plum amazes as much as monocleosis or insolation. For the treatment and prevention of wood treated with a 3% solution Bordeaux mixture. As a prophylactic treatment is carried out before the flowering of the tree. Of the pests, the danger is the plum fruit mill, which destroys the leaves of the tree and spoils the fruit. To prevent its occurrence, during the flowering period, the tree is sprayed with special chemicals every two weeks, stopping a month before harvesting. Pheramon traps are also effective.

Chinese plum is a good alternative to regular home plums. Its fruits are large, juicy and ripen much earlier than usual. Caring for it is almost the same as for the usual plum, so the difficulties with growing will not arise.Although it has its drawbacks: the likelihood of flowers freezing during the last frosts, difficulties with pollination. But if you follow all the tips for the care of Chinese plum, you will find a tasty and bountiful harvest.