Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 447: Change of Plant

The tung tree likes light, is shade-tolerant, and can tolerate severe cold. It can also grow luxuriantly in the side shade, but it rarely blooms and bears fruit. In this way, it is better to plant it on a sunny slope, and the east and south slopes of Dongshan are suitable.

Therefore, the buds began to collect tung tree seeds in advance. In September and October last year, when the peel of tung seeds gradually changed from green to dark brown, the fruits began to mature and fall off naturally.

Hualei asked Fubo to take a group of people to the barren hills to collect tung oil seeds in time. In order to improve the quality of tung oil seeds, Hualei asked Fubo to choose seeds from tung oil trees that were more than ten years old.

Such seeds are fresh, full and of good quality. After planting, the germination rate and survival rate are relatively high. As for those tung seeds that are not yet old, of course they cannot be missed. They are collected and used to make tung oil.

After the tung seeds are harvested, they need to be piled in a cool room because the peel is still relatively hard and cannot be peeled directly.

After the peel softens, peel off the shell and take out the tung seeds. In order to ensure that the seeds will not be squeezed, they can only be peeled out one by one manually, and cannot be squeezed with a stick, which is very time-consuming.

After peeling the seeds from the shells, they need to be stored in wet sand and taken out when they are ready to be sown in the spring of the following year. This way, the quality of the seeds can be relatively well guaranteed.

If it is sown in winter, there is no need to store it in sand, and it can be sown directly. However, in autumn, the flower buds are too late to sow, so she decided to store the tung seeds in sand first.

When storing in sand, first use wet sand to lay the bottom, spread the seeds evenly, cover with a layer of sand, and then lay a layer of seeds. Generally, it is appropriate to lay three layers of seeds, and then cover with another layer of sand.

The humidity of the sand should be such that no water can be felt when you hold it in your hand, and the sand does not fall apart when you let go. When storing seeds, the moisture level should not be too high or too low. If it is too low, the seeds will be too dry, while if it is too high, the seeds will turn yellow or rot easily, which will affect the germination rate of the seeds.

The best time to sow tung oil seeds is from February to May each year. September to October in the second half of the year is also suitable because there is sufficient sunshine and rain during these two periods. It is a good time to sow tung oil seeds.

There are two methods for sowing tung oil trees: direct sowing and seedling transplanting.

Because the wheat on the hillside was harvested late, in order not to affect the germination and growth of tung seeds, Hualei deliberately chose the method of early seedling transplanting to plant tung trees.

However, since I am also an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, I refer to the Ministry of Agriculture's way of doing things in order to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two tung seed sowing methods.

Some tung oil seeds were also left in the flower buds for direct sowing. See which of the two methods is better, which will help with the future planting of tung oil trees.

In early March, take out the tung seeds from the wet sand, select the high-quality, full-grained seeds, and soak them in warm water for two days and two nights. Change the water in the middle and let them dry slightly before continuing to soak. After soaking, you are ready to plant the seeds and raise the seedlings.

A piece of land is prepared in Baihua Village. After deep plowing, it is exposed to the sun for a few days, and then the soil is broken into small pieces and base fertilizer is applied to make a seedling bed.

After carefully leveling the seedling bed, dig drainage ditches around it, then sprinkle a layer of tung oil seeds, and finally cover the seeds with fine soil about one finger thick.

Finally, cover it with a layer of straw fans. The straw fans have the function of retaining water and fertilizer, and can also maintain the temperature of the surface to prevent mice from stealing food. During this period, check the ditches to prevent water accumulation in the seedling beds.

After a period of time, the tung oil tree begins to sprout, and the tung oil seeds that have not sprouted continue to germinate. If they have not sprouted for three consecutive weeks, it means that these seeds will not germinate and have to be discarded.

Before transplanting tung oil seedlings, the land for planting needs to be deep-turned, sorted, weeded, and fertilized.

Now, because two crops have been planted on Dongshan Mountain, Hualei has improved the hillside. Now the soil on the hillside is deep, fertile, loose, and drainage and irrigation are very convenient.

However, in order to make the tung trees grow better, Hualei cleaned up the hillside before transplanting, cleared all the wheat stubble on the hillside, and broke up all the lumps of soil. According to the terrain, a ditch was dug on the hillside for easy drainage.

However, before transplanting the tung oil seedlings, Hualei decided to sow the remaining tung oil seeds directly first, so that the growth time of the tung oil seedlings transplanted from seedlings would be slightly consistent, allowing for better management.

Because adult tung trees are relatively large, if they are planted too densely, it will affect their growth and fruiting.

Therefore, Hualei went to the North Mountain again and used a rope to roughly measure the crowns of the adult tung trees. Then, he planned the planting density of the tung trees according to the distance of four meters by four meters between rows.

Dig a hole about one foot wide and deep, and apply fermented basal fertilizer to the bottom of the hole. Place three seeds flat in a triangle in each hole, cover with soil about one finger joint deep, and then cover with a layer of hay to prevent the topsoil from compacting. This is how direct sowing is done.

When direct sowing is completed, the buds are ready for transplanting tung oil seedlings.

Two to three days before transplanting, irrigate the nursery bed to ensure that the soil can soak the tung oil seedlings. When transplanting, the action should be gentler, and be careful not to hurt the roots of the tung oil seedlings.

We deliberately chose a day with light rain, when the soil on the hillside was loose and moist, to start transplanting. Similarly, before transplanting, we dug holes at a certain distance, placed the tung oil seedlings in the holes, and compacted them slightly with fine soil to ensure that the roots of the tung oil seedlings would not be damaged.

Considering that the distance between Baihuazhuang and the planting site on the barren mountain is quite far and they need to be transported by boat, Hualei wetted all the roots of the tung oil trees and coated them with mud to prevent the roots from losing their activity and dying. In this way, transplanting with soil can ensure the survival rate of the tung oil seedlings.

After nearly a month of hard work, all the tung oil seedlings were transplanted. At this time, the tung oil seeds that were directly sown had already broken through the soil, and the seedlings were already as long as a finger, so the tung oil seedlings were thinned out and supplemented.

By the time everything was almost done, all the tung oil tree seedlings had grown, and the occasional missing seedlings were replanted with flower buds.

The next step is the daily management of the tung oil tree. Only when the structural specifications of the tung oil tree are reasonable can high-quality and high-yield tung oil trees be grown. Therefore, two rounds of tillage and weeding should be carried out during the young tung oil tree period.