My Amrapali fruits are coming small and I get a lot of black spots and rot in the thick canopy. The trees are planted close. How do I improve size and reduce disease?
3 जवाब
Small fruit and disease in dense Amrapali usually trace to overcrowding and poor light and airflow. Amrapali fruit is naturally small to medium, but it gets worse when too many fruits per tree and a shaded, congested canopy compete for resources and trap humidity. Steps: prune annually after harvest to open the centre, remove crossing and dead wood, and keep tree height manageable so light reaches all fruit; this both improves size and dries the canopy to cut anthracnose. Do some fruit thinning in heavy years so remaining fruit size up. Feed adequately with balanced nutrition and correct micronutrients (potassium and boron help size and quality) based on soil test, and keep even moisture with drip during fruit growth. For disease, follow a preventive anthracnose spray schedule from flowering to pea stage and a post-harvest hot water dip, observing pre-harvest intervals. Open, well-fed trees give bigger, cleaner Amrapali.
Opening up the canopy by pruning made a big difference, more light and less rot. Earlier the inside was dark and damp and full of black spots.
Potash and boron at fruit development improved my fruit size noticeably. Thinning in heavy years also helps the rest grow bigger.