How to manage dragon fruit in winter?

Dragon fruit is a unique tropical fruit that is rich in nutrients. It is grown in large quantities in Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Guizhou in China. Dragon fruit grows rapidly in a warm, humid and well-lit environment. So how to manage dragon fruit in winter? Let’s take a look with the editor below.

1. Cover the shed in time

When the average temperature of day and night is below 20 degrees, a greenhouse should be built for the dragon fruit or covered with insulation materials in time to increase the temperature and prevent low temperature from damaging the growth of the dragon fruit, especially protecting the newly sprouted tender shoots from frost damage. On sunny days, be sure to open the shed for ventilation to reduce the humidity inside.

2. Root insulation

After soiling, cover the soil around the roots of the pitaya plant with straw or other weeds, with a thickness of 5-6 cm, to reduce water evaporation, prevent water loss, keep the soil moist, ensure water supply , prevent the plant from losing water, and improve the plant's resistance to cold.

3. Apply winter fertilizer

After pitaya is harvested, spray wintering fertilizer in time to increase soil fertility, supplement nutrients for pitaya trees , and help them restore their growth ability. Winter fertilizer is mainly composed of decomposed farmyard manure and a small amount of compound fertilizer . When the weather is cold, cover with decomposed sheep manure, 23 tons per mu, and 20-25 kilograms of sulfur-based compound fertilizer to enhance the plant's ability to retain heat and resist cold.

4. Reasonable watering

In winter, pitaya enters a dormant period and its growth slows down. The frequency of watering should be reduced to avoid root rot. Each watering should be sufficient, but avoid over-watering, ensuring that the water can penetrate the entire root area. If the weather is dry, water the soil appropriately, and drain quickly to prevent waterlogging. You can sprinkle clean water, biogas slurry, or fermented human and animal manure evenly on the soil around the roots of the pitaya plant, so that the water can completely penetrate into the soil without flowing out.

5. Timely garden cleaning

After harvesting and fertilizing, cut off weak branches and branches that are diseased and insect-infested on the fruit trees, then take the branches and fallen flowers and fruits out of the orchard for burning and deep burial. Then spray disinfectants and pesticides throughout the garden to destroy the overwintering places of pests and diseases, reduce the number of pathogens and insect eggs, and reduce the incidence of pests and diseases. Finally, apply materials such as pine film to the fruit trees to improve their disease resistance and cold resistance. Prevent pests and diseases from damaging the lower stems of the plant.

6. Postpone pruning

It is not advisable to carry out pruning work in winter, and we should try to do it in early spring. Because the temperature is low in winter, pruning may cause new buds to be damaged by low temperature. In addition, delaying pruning can increase the tree's nutrient accumulation, which helps avoid diseases and insect pests caused by wound infection due to pruning. Therefore, in winter, it is necessary to prevent mechanical wounds on the tree that affect the growth of the dragon fruit tree.

7. Pest and disease control

In winter, we must also do a good job in preventing and controlling various diseases and pests to prevent them from affecting the wintering of pitaya and reducing the economic benefits of planting. In addition to strengthening management, orchards must be sprayed with pesticides and disinfected regularly, and corresponding measures must be taken promptly after the disease occurs to prevent the disease from spreading and expanding the affected area.

The above is an introduction to how to manage pitaya in winter. In low temperature environments, pitaya branches and trunks are susceptible to frost damage. You can use an insulation bag or other insulation materials to wrap the dragon fruit to prevent it from being frozen.