Mangosteen's growth habit Mangosteen is a small tree plant of Garcinia, with a height of 12~20 meters. It is monoecious, with several clustered male flowers and pistils when it fades. Studies have found that all mangosteen trees have degenerated pistils and belong to parthenogenetic plants. That is, unfertilized female flowers can directly develop into individuals (a kind of asexual reproduction), so the seed quality is very stable, and the seedlings are not grafted and are not easy to mutate.
Mangosteen is generally distributed in low altitude areas and has very strict requirements on climate and environment. The suitable temperature in the growing area is 4.5~37.5℃, and if it is lower than 20℃ during fruit production, the growth will become very slow. If the low temperature is below 10℃ for too long, the flowering and fruiting will be abnormal and the yield will be reduced in the next year. When the growth period drops to 5~8℃ or the relative humidity is lower than 40%, it is not conducive to the growth of mangosteen, or even the death of plants.
Mangosteen loves high humidity, which requires high annual precipitation. It needs 1300~2500mm to meet the growth, and there can be no long-term drought, and the annual rainfall distribution should be uniform. Therefore, in areas with less precipitation, irrigation conditions should be met, the soil should not be too wet, and the groundwater level should be lower than 1.8 meters. In addition, mangosteen doesn't like to grow in salty air, sandy soil and silt, so the soil far from the sea is more suitable for planting.
In low latitudes of Sri Lanka, mangosteen is harvested from May to June, and at high altitudes from July to August or from September to10. In India, there are two fruit-bearing periods, namely from July to10 and from April to June. The fruiting period in Thailand is from May to September, and the fruit ripening period in Hainan is from June to July. Currently, there are plants in Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning and Baoting in Hainan. Mangosteen takes almost three months from flowering to fruiting, during which the temperature below 20℃ is unfavorable for fruit production.
How to plant mangosteen in the first planting climate should meet its growth needs, especially in its fruit-producing period, and the temperature should meet the above requirements. If it cannot be met, mangosteen cannot be planted well.
This is why mangosteen is only commercially produced in tropical Hainan at present in China. The difficulty of mangosteen planting lies in the management of seedling stage. Mangosteen seedlings are sensitive to temperature and humidity, and the requirements for mangosteen trees entering adult fruit are relatively less demanding.
Mangosteen can be seeded by seeds, grafted, cut and laminated. Seed propagation is common, but it takes 7~ 12 years to bear fruit, while grafting can bear fruit after 6 years of growth. Mangosteen seeds have short vitality, and the vitality of seeds left in the pulp can be maintained for 3-5 weeks, and once the seeds are taken out, they can only survive for 5 days, so it is best to sow them as soon as possible after collecting the seeds. Soaking seeds in water for one day before sowing can improve the germination rate.
Put the seeds into a pre-prepared cultivation bed and arrange loam (the ratio of sand, soil and organic fertilizer should be 3: 2:1for their growth). Mangosteen has developed main roots, but few lateral roots and root hairs. Increasing the amount of organic fertilizer will not make seedlings grow faster. During this period, it is mainly watered until it germinates and grows.
When a pair of cotyledons germinate, they should be moved to a seedling bag with a length of more than 35cm to continue cultivation. When transplanting seedlings, wrap the roots with soil, and avoid hurting the main roots, otherwise it will be difficult to survive or grow more slowly. The seedling cultivation period requires high water content, so it needs to be watered frequently. If it is dry and short of water, it will often grow poorly or wither, but there can be no water accumulation and the roots will rot easily.
The seedlings in the nursery usually need to be cultivated for 2 years, and then it is appropriate to bury them. Because mangosteen is a tropical fruit tree, it does not need strong light to grow well or quickly, as some people think. Their early growth needs shading environment, and shading is very important for mangosteen, so it is generally necessary to plant shading trees or other shading measures in the field. Shading needs to be more than 80% at the initial stage. After two pairs of four leaves grow, shading can be reduced to 60-70%, to 50% after 1 year, and to 30% one month before planting.
Shading is very important for the growth of seedlings, which are easy to wither and die under strong light, and the planted seedlings also need adequate shading to improve the survival rate. After entering the fruit, you don't need shading and grow normally under full sunshine.
It can also be planted after half a year, but it should be noted that its seedlings can only be bathed in the sun in the morning and evening, and direct sunlight at noon should be avoided. Dig a planting hole with a depth of 70cm and a length of 70 cm, and put 20 kg of organic fertilizer and NPK fertilizer (15: 5:15)100g and soil covering 3/4 of the soil one week before the planting, which will be used as the base fertilizer for the early growth of seedlings.
Cut the seedling cultivation bag, take it out slowly, and it is best not to let the clods break, put it in the middle of the hole, and then pile the soil until it soaks into the base of the seedling stem. Stabilizing the soil, watering it and covering it with plastic film can protect water and fertilizer and prevent weeds.
What we need to do after planting is shading and watering. Because the water absorption capacity of seedlings is weak, the supply of water is the most important during this period. However, it should be noted that it is not advisable to finish watering at noon, and it can be done in the morning and evening. Fertilizers should be applied once every six months after survival, supplemented by NPK and dominated by manure and other organic fertilizers.
Conclusion: Mangosteen is a fruit tree suitable for growing in tropical rain forest, which needs high temperature and humidity to be beneficial to its growth. When cultivating mangosteen, it is not like some people think that there should be enough light to make mangosteen grow. Moderate shading environment is conducive to the growth of mangosteen, and only when it enters the fruiting period is it suitable to be exposed to full sunlight.