Chestnut has a very long history in China, and its cultivation history reaches nearly 4,000 years. Each province across the country has a certain planting area, and the market demand for chestnuts is also increasing every year. Therefore, many growers are constantly expanding their planting areas. If you want to expand your planting area, what are some tips for sowing chestnut trees? In what season and where is it suitable for planting?
1. Land selection and preparation
First of all, you need to select a chestnut nursery land based on sufficient soil fertility, thick and soft soil, normal drainage and irrigation, and control the soil pH value at around 6 . Then in the winter of the year before sowing, apply sufficient base fertilizer on the field, and control the amount of fertilizer according to the planting area, keeping it at about 7,500 kilograms per acre. Then, in the spring of that year, prepare the soil well, dig deep into the soil, and eliminate the germs in the soil. Grind the soil finely and level it, and dig a trench. Then make a field 0.5 meters wide and 0.15 meters high, keep trails, and disinfect the soil four days before sowing.
2. Seed collection and storage
Every autumn, when the chestnut trees mature, it is necessary to sow seeds. Select mature and plump chestnut fruits as seeds, pick out the seeds with diseases, insect pests and wounds, and then soak the healthy and normal seeds in potassium permanganate solution for about a quarter of an hour for disinfection. Finally, store the seeds in a cold environment such as a cellar. The main method of storing chestnut seeds is to store them in layers. Each layer is covered with wet sand. The wet sand is so wet that it can be held into a ball by hand. Then, during the storage process, pay attention to preventing rats, insects, and diseases, controlling temperature and humidity, and preventing mildew.
3. Timely sowing
After soil preparation and disinfection, when more than half of the seeds germinate, sowing can begin. Before sowing, pick out moldy and damaged seeds to increase the seedling rate. Then, control the density on the seedbed, dig nursery trenches, and sprinkle compound fertilizer into each trench to control the amount. After fertilizing, cover the fertilizer with a layer of fine soil to prevent the seeds from coming into direct contact with the fertilizer. Then place the seeds belly-side down into the nursery ditch, and control the row spacing at about 7 cm. Then cover the seeds with about two centimeters of fine soil, and then cover with grass to improve heat preservation and moisture retention capabilities and prevent soil compaction.
4. Post-broadcast management
Generally, seeds will break out of the ground about 40 days after sowing. April is the initial growth period of chestnut seedlings. At this time, attention should be paid to weeding, thinning and pest control during cultivation. Ensure the healthy growth of the seedlings, and then the chestnut will enter the rapid growth period in June. At this time, the chestnut seedlings grow rapidly, and water and fertilizer must be done to meet the chestnut's water and nutritional needs. Apply nitrogen fertilizer in a timely manner and pay attention to proper watering after water fertilizer to prevent the seedlings from being burned due to overheating. After entering August, control the amount of water and fertilizer to prevent chestnut seedlings from growing white due to excess nutrients.
The most important thing when building a chestnut orchard is to choose the right plot of land and varieties. Especially the high-starch chestnut varieties that meet the market demand are expensive. Chestnut frying owners will rush to buy them immediately, or even pre-order them in advance. The situation in different places is different, so it is necessary to conduct market research in advance and plant chestnut varieties with large sales and no worries.