Seedbed facilities
If you want to be a good bergamot, healthy seedlings are the most important. With strong seedlings, good trees can grow and trees can bear good fruits. "A good seedling is half the battle", which is a basic experience we have gained in our long-term practice. Seedbed, seed selection, cutting and management must be done well to cultivate golden Buddha seedlings.
The seedbed is a hotbed for the reproduction of golden Buddha fingerlings. It is necessary to choose plots with sunny lee, abundant water resources, loose soil, no toxicity and pollution, which are beneficial to transplanting and easy to manage. The seedbed area should be determined according to the number of fingered citron branches. Do more and do less, saving land and effort. After the seedbed position and seedbed area are determined, we should deeply plow and level the land, and carefully break the clods like a girl embroidering. The finer, the better. Weeds should be removed, and a seedbed with width of 100- 120 cm, height of about 20 cm and unlimited length should be made, and then red sand or yellow sand with thickness of 2 cm should be spread on the surface of the seedbed (as shown in Figure 2). The suitable cutting density is 5 ~10 cm.
In order to make the seedbed non-toxic, pollution-free and weed-free, black film can be used to cover the seedbed instead of red sand or yellow sand, and then cutting and spraying water. For example, in hot summer, 65% shading net is used to shade the seedbed to prevent the black film from absorbing a lot of heat and scalding the cutting technology. The black film has the function of heat preservation and moisture preservation, promotes the rooting of cuttings, and the root system is developed and strong, which can avoid weeding.
Cutting selection
As the saying goes: "The dragon gives birth to the dragon, the phoenix gives birth to the phoenix, and the mouse gives birth to the child to dig a hole in the ground", which shows that it is extremely important to select excellent varieties for cultivation. When choosing cuttings, we should do four things; We need old branches instead of tender branches and new branches, strong branches instead of weak branches and residual branches, and healthy branches instead of diseased branches. We want green seeds, not white and yellow seeds. Young branches, weak branches, residual branches, diseased branches and white and yellow bark species are all bad branches. It not only has a long growth period, but also is not easy to bear fruit. The so-called old branches refer to the mature branches of bergamot trees that can bear fruit, and it is best to use thick annual aging branches for cutting. After two years of cultivation, this branch will blossom and bear fruit. Collect cuttings according to the above requirements, and the length of each branch is about 7 ~ 10 cm, that is, 3 ~ 5 leaves are one section (too long to waste and too short to survive), so it is required to cut them clearly without leaving any room. There are two or three leaves on the branch; There is still one piece left. According to practical experience, "cuttings with two or three leaves should be rooted first and then germinated, and cuttings without leaves should germinate and regenerate roots first".
Cutting time and operation
The cutting of bergamot is mainly concentrated in spring and summer, combined with pruning. March-April is spring every year, and the bergamot is pruned after coming out of the shed. Summer pruning is carried out from the end of July to the beginning of August (generally completed before beginning of autumn); Using the pruned branches, select the stout branches without plant diseases and insect pests as skewers, remove leaves and thorns, and cut them into cuttings of 8- 10cm with more than 3 buds. Generally, after 15 ~ 20 days, the seedlings have taken root and changed from white roots to yellow roots, with high survival rate. Branches can keep a certain humidity, and can still survive for about 10 days. When collecting branches, the scissors should be sharp, so as to keep the cutting surface flat and the survival rate of cutting surface injury is low.
Seedling management
According to the growth habit of bergamot, we should focus on temperature and humidity, pests and diseases, weeding and so on.
(1) Sunlight is the energy source for photosynthesis of seedling leaves. However, when the sunshine is strong and the temperature is above 40℃, the seedlings are easy to get sunburned, so it is necessary to build a simple shade shed (Figure 4), which is ventilated on all sides and covered with pine trees or sunshade nets at the top to prevent sun exposure in hot days. When the temperature is lower than 0℃, the seedlings are easy to be frostbitten, so it is necessary to do a good job of wintering and antifreeze facilities. The overwintering shed is made of bamboo sticks and nylon film, lined with straw.
⑵ Water evenly with a watering can, do not splash water, and keep the soil moist. But not too wet, as long as the soil is not white. It is necessary to prevent waterlogging in rainy days and dig ditches to drain water. Too much or too little water will affect the growth of seedlings, which will lead to poor harvest in severe cases.
(3) Weeding and fertilizing weeds not only consume nutrients, but also harm the growth of seedlings. It must be pulled up frequently, and they must not be allowed to grow and grow, so that the seedbed is clean and refreshing, only seedlings are seen, and weeds are not seen. Pull carefully when weeding, so as not to hurt the roots of seedlings. If the black film is spread on the seedbed during cutting and the cuttings are directly inserted into the soil, the black film can prevent the growth of weeds and the weeding work can be omitted. The root system of bergamot is distributed in
Superficial, the roots can secrete organic acids, so that minerals in the soil can be dissolved, which is beneficial to root absorption and does not need fertilization when raising seedlings. When the new shoots of seedlings mature, a small amount of farmyard manure or compound fertilizer can be used, depending on the fertilization situation of seedlings, and heavy fertilizer cannot be used.
(4) pests and diseases. If pests and diseases are found and left unchecked, the harm will be great. Please refer to "Pest Control" for control measures. Compared with cutting, the fingered citron cultivated by this method has developed root system, vigorous growth and long life, which can reach more than 30 years. But the technical level is high, the process is complex and takes a long time, so cutting is not as simple as cutting.
Grafting to cultivate fingered citron seedlings mainly uses rootstocks with strong cold resistance, such as Fructus Aurantii, Fructus Citri Grandis, rafters and lemons. Therefore, the cold resistance of bergamot is improved, and at the same time, the better root system of rootstock is used to promote the growth and rapid finalization of seedlings, which is beneficial to bonsai production. Grafting of bergamot is usually carried out in April-May and August every year. The scion should be carefully selected, and the best time to cut the scion is in the morning. From the excellent mother trees with strong tree potential and no pests and diseases, choose the middle part of strong branches with full buds and rich tissues as the scion, or choose the autumn shoots of last year as the scion. The picked scions should be cut off immediately and needled (the petiole is only about 3mm). Every 50 scions or 100 scions should be tied into small bundles and folded with wet towels. (1) Bud cutting is usually carried out in August, and the scion can choose prismatic spring shoots with full axillary buds. When cutting buds, the scion is buckled upside down between the thumb and middle finger of the left hand, and the wide side of the back is close to the fingertip. Select the first complete bud at the base of the branch, cut a knife obliquely from about 10mm below the bud, and then cut a knife from the base of the bud to cut through the cortex, without hurting or slightly hurting the xylem, cut the yellow and white cambium, and finally cut the uneven bud. The cutting surface must be straight, smooth, moderate in depth and free from deposits or other pollution.
⑵ The incision of the rootstock depends on the thickness of the rootstock. When the rootstock trunk is 8 ~ 15 cm above the ground, choose a flat place and cut it vertically from top to bottom, with a length of about 3cm. The thickness of the incision is to cut through the cortex without hurting or slightly hurting the xylem. The section should be straight.
(3) Hold both sides of the cut bud accurately with thumb and forefinger, insert the bud into the rootstock incision, and the lower end is close to the bottom of the rootstock incision. The two sections of the grafted bud and the rootstock should be closely aligned. If the rootstock is thick, the grafted bud should be on one side of the incision, so that the cambium of the rootstock and the grafted bud can be aligned and easy to survive.
(4) Cut the film into strips of plastic film (graft film) with a width of 3cm and a length of 25cm to 30cm, and wrap it from the bottom of the joint. Wrap all the joints, but expose the flower buds, and finally tie a slipknot for later release. When the film is tied, the grafted buds cannot move up and down, left and right, and it is easy to survive.
After budding for half a month, check the survival rate. If the bud is bright green, the petiole will fall when touched, indicating that it has been grafted; If the grafted bud withers and discolors, it means that it has not survived, and it should be replanted in time. After scion grafting, the binding film (grafting film) should be released in time. Skin grafting, also known as subcutaneous transplantation, is the easiest method to master, with fast skin grafting speed, low cost, high survival rate and good skin grafting effect in spring.
When grafting, cut the rootstock: firstly, cut the branches at the proper height, smooth and scar-free place of the rootstock, and cut the cortex longitudinally at the edge of the rootstock. The incision is about 2.5cm long, and pick the left and right cortex slightly with the tip of the knife. Pruning: select a scion with semi-lignified axillary buds and a length of 3 ~ 4 cm, and cut it into a long slope of about 2cm on one side and a small slope of about 1cm on the other. Insertion: insert the long inclined plane of the scion inward between the cortex and cambium of the picked rootstock, so that the scion and rootstock are closely combined, and it is generally appropriate to leave 2 ~ 3 buds for the scion.
After the scion is inserted, the wound is tightly wrapped with a grafting film with a length of 40cm and a width of 2.5 ~ 3 cm to prevent water evaporation and fix the scion. Cover and tie the scion with a plastic bag with water in it, and keep the scion moist for survival. (1) High-pressure method During April-July, select robust branches of bergamot, cut off the covering parts of the branches with a knife according to the requirements of shaping or cultivating new plants, and then prepare the culture medium with moss+pond mud+appropriate rooting agent or rock wool+nutrient solution+appropriate rooting agent. The culture medium is kneaded into a ball and wrapped in the wound, then wrapped in plastic film, and the two ends and the middle are tied tightly with belts, which is beneficial to moisturizing and does not need other maintenance. New roots can grow after 10 days. Two months later, it was cut off by high pressure and planted in a new pot. Moisturize and shade for a while, and make it a new bergamot plant.
(2) Low pressure method This method is suitable for bergamot plants with lush branches and slow growth. Before layering, in the soil basin next to the bergamot plant, cut the part of the bergamot branch that needs layering with a knife or peel it annularly, and then press it into the soil basin. Some branches stick out of the basin. 1 month and a half, when new roots grow, the lower end of the low-pressure part can be cut off and separated from the mother. After half a month, apply a little thin fertilizer to promote the growth of its new shoots. Straighten the branches gradually, fix them with wooden sticks or bamboo strips, and shape them according to the situation.
You can also press the branches of bergamot directly on the mud and press the mud and stones together. It can become a new plant.