What is the growth process of pitaya?

Pitaya, also known as immortal fruit and auspicious fruit, has high economic value and integrates fruit, flowers, vegetables and medicine. It is not only edible for fruits, but also has high nutritional value and delicious taste, and has become a new and excellent green health food.

Pitaya has unique requirements for environmental conditions. It can be planted in shallow hills and mountains with no pollution and convenient irrigation and drainage.

Pitaya is divided into three categories: red skin and white meat, red skin and red meat and yellow skin and white meat. Due to the variety and geographical differences, there are many names. In Taiwan Province Province, red meat pitaya includes Lotus Red Dragon, John Lone, Rose Red Dragon, Xianglong, Xianglong, Zhu Long and Tianlong. White meat varieties are often called white honey, fairy honey fruit and white meat dragon fruit. In other Asian regions, it is usually called red pitaya and green pitaya. In English-speaking countries in Central America or Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, all cactus fruits are called pitaya or pitaya, and pitaya is pitaya.

Pitaya is rich in nutrition and unique in function. According to the determination, every 100g of pulp contains 82.5-83.0g of water, 0.2 1-0.6 1g of fat, 0. 15-0.22g of protein, 0.7-0.9g of fiber and 0.005 of carotene. Phosphorus 30.2 ~ 36. 1 mg, iron 0.05 ~ 0.65 mg, vitamin b 1.028 ~ 0.043 mg, vitamin B20.043~0.045 mg, vitamin C8.0 ~ 9.0 mg, fructose 2.83 g and glucose 7.83 g.

Pitaya has an excellent effect on human health, because it contains plant albumin and anthocyanin, rich vitamins and water-soluble dietary fiber, which are rare in general plants. Albumin is a viscous colloidal substance, which has detoxification effect on heavy metal poisoning. Due to the neglect of environmental protection, various water resources are polluted by heavy metals, and the content of heavy metals in drinking water and food exceeds the standard. However, when albumin meets heavy metal ions in the human body, it will combine with them and then be excreted, which plays a role in detoxification. So eating pitaya rich in albumin can avoid the absorption and poisoning of heavy metal ions. Albumin also has a protective effect on the stomach wall. Moreover, the albumin in the flowers, fruits and stems of pitaya is excellent and stable, and the polymerization of these albumin constitutes the main component of cactus mucus.

Pitaya also contains a more special ingredient-anthocyanin. Grape skins, red beets and other fruits and vegetables all contain anthocyanins, but the content of anthocyanins in pitaya is the highest, especially in red meat fruits. It has antioxidant, anti-free radical and anti-aging effects, and can also improve the prevention of brain cell degeneration and inhibit the occurrence of dementia. At the same time, pitaya also contains vitamin C for whitening skin and rich water-soluble dietary fiber, which has the functions of losing weight, lowering blood sugar, moistening intestines and preventing colorectal cancer.

Pitaya is simple to plant and quick to take effect. Pitaya grows vigorously, free of cultivation, easy to manage and prune, thick waxy layer, smooth appearance, free of bagging and suitable for all kinds of soil. It can blossom and bear fruit in 7 or 8 months after planting, and enter the full fruit period in the third year and continue to bear fruit. It blooms and bears fruit from May to June ~ 165438+ 10 every year, and bears flowers 15 batches every year, with at least four full fruit periods. One investment will benefit for many years. The output of pitaya is high, with an average yield of 3500 kg ~ 10000 kg per mu and 8000 flowers.

There will be many commercial traps in the selection of pitaya, which will bring a difficult crisis to the development of pitaya. Scientific selection of seedlings and seedling suppliers is very important for the healthy development of pitaya.

Management techniques of pitaya planting

Pitaya is a tropical and subtropical plant. Its fruit is colorful and nutritious. It has the characteristics of low fat, high fiber and low calorie. It can prevent constipation, reduce blood sugar and blood lipid, and has obvious dietotherapy and health care effects. The flower of pitaya is more than 30 centimeters long, which is a rich honey source. These flowers can be eaten, dried or made into soup.

I. Ecological characteristics

Pitaya is a tropical and subtropical fruit, which is drought-resistant, heat-resistant and light-loving, and has low requirements for soil quality. It can be planted in flat land, hillside and gravel land, and the optimum soil pH is 6-7.5. Planting on the soil with rich organic matter and good drainage will grow most vigorously. Pitaya is not frost-tolerant, so it needs to be planted in greenhouses in areas below 0 degrees in winter.

Second, the planting method

Pitaya can be planted in a variety of ways, from climbing walls to building sheds. Column cultivation is the most common and the production cost is low. The so-called column planting is a cultivation method of erecting a cement column or a wooden column and planting three or four pitaya seedlings around the column to make the plants grow up along the column.

Third, planting specifications and seasons

Each acre of land can be provided with 100- 1 10 columns, with row spacing of 1.5x2 meters. According to the calculation of 4 fruit seedlings in each row, about 750 plants can be planted per mu. Pitaya can be planted all year round, the sooner it is planted, the better, and the growth recovery time after planting. Because of its strong air permeability, deep planting (about 3 cm deep is appropriate) is not allowed. Keep the soil moist at the initial stage of planting, otherwise it will not be conducive to growth.

Fourthly, field cultivation management.

Pitaya can blossom and bear fruit in about1February-1April after planting, and can blossom 12 times-15 times a year. The fruiting period is from April to June, and it can be harvested 30 days and 40 days after withering. Generally, the weight of a single fruit is 500-1000g. In the second year after planting, each column bears more than 20 fruits, and in the third year, it enters the full fruit stage. If the management level is high, the yield per mu can reach more than 2500 Jin. Field cultivation management is divided into the following points:

1. Adhere to high-standard water and fertilizer management and apply thin fertilizer frequently. Because of the long fruit harvest period, organic fertilizer should be applied once a year, and NPK compound fertilizer should be applied in a balanced way for a long time. Potassium fertilizer and magnesium fertilizer should be applied during flowering and fruiting to promote sugar accumulation and improve fruit quality. Keep the soil moist during the fruiting period, and cover the roots with grass or mushroom residue. When the weather is dry, water every 3-4 days.

2. When the branches grow to about 1.3 m- 1.4 m, they should be plucked to promote branching, let the branches droop naturally, accumulate nutrients, and blossom and bear fruit early.

3. When planting pitaya by intercropping and artificial pollination, about 10% white pitaya should be intercropped. Cross-pollination among varieties can obviously improve the seed setting rate. Artificial pollination should be carried out in rainy weather, and pollen can be directly applied to the stigma of female flowers with a brush before flowering in the evening or closing in the morning, which can improve the fruit setting rate.

4. Prune and cut off the fruitful branches every year to promote the growth of new branches and ensure the yield in the coming year.

5. Pests and diseases control Pitaya has fewer pests and diseases, and it is vulnerable to snails and ants at seedling stage, so it can be controlled by pesticides; In high temperature and high humidity season, local necrosis and mildew spots of branches are easy to occur, which can be prevented by fungicides such as triadimefon and strong copper oxide.