Shield leafberry is an upright or climbing deciduous shrub of the Rosaceae genus. It is native to Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Guizhou in China. It grows on slopes, hillsides, forest edges, or shady and moist areas at elevations of 300-1500 meters. The fruits of the shield leafberry are edible and can be used medicinally to treat lower back and leg pain. The root bark can be used to produce gum. Below are the artificial cultivation methods for shield leafberry.
Artificial Cultivation of Shield Leafberry
1. Land Preparation
Land preparation involves tilling the soil, removing weeds, leveling the land, and applying fertilizer.
· Cultivation can be done in spring or autumn. Early April is the best time for spring planting, while autumn planting should be done before the onset of frost.
· The main focus is on applying base fertilizer, which should be determined based on soil fertility. In general, 10-20 tons of organic fertilizer per hectare should be incorporated into the soil. Phosphorus fertilizer should be applied 30-45 days before planting at a rate of 180-240 kg per hectare, and potassium fertilizer at a rate of 120 kg per hectare. Lime should be applied to acidic soils for improvement.
· The planting spacing for shield leafberry is 2.5-3 meters between rows and 0.5-0.75 meters between plants. If there are sufficient seedlings, the spacing can be reduced to 0.25-0.35 meters. It takes 3-4 years for shield leafberry to fully occupy the inter-row space with a spacing of 0.5-0.75 meters, while with a spacing of 0.25-0.35 meters, it can achieve full coverage in the second year and bear fruit in the third year.
2. Cultivation
· Cultivation mainly involves loosening the soil and weeding. In spring, the inter-row spacing should be loosened and weeds in the rows should be removed. In summer, the soil should be loosened based on its compactness and weed growth. Generally, loosening should be done 2-3 times before fruit harvest. After fruit harvest, loosening should be done once and inter-row cultivation twice. Weak and damaged root suckers should be removed in early summer to prevent overcrowding.
· Prune the second-year branches that have already borne fruit immediately after harvest. Remove any excess, broken, or diseased one-year-old branches.
· Support and bind the plants. Supporting and binding is an important part of shield leafberry field management. It involves using stakes to keep the stems of shield leafberry upright to prevent them from bending heavily after fruiting. Support and binding can effectively improve the quality and yield of the fruits.
3. Harvest
Shield leafberry should be harvested at the right time, neither too early nor too late. Generally, it should be harvested within one or two days after ripening. The fruits should be picked with the calyx and part of the stem. The harvested fruits should be stored in a refrigerator at around 0 degrees Celsius and 90% relative humidity. Under such temperature and humidity conditions, the fruits can be stored for about a week. Cold storage facilities can be used for long-term preservation of the fruits.
Planting Tips for Shield Leafberry
1. Planting Season
· Shield leafberry can be planted when the temperature is above 0 degrees Celsius, regardless of the region. However, spring and autumn are the preferred seasons for planting. Spring planting is best done from mid-March to late April, while autumn planting is best done from mid-October to late November. Spring planting will result in some fruiting in the same year, while autumn planting will lead to more fruiting in the following summer, and the third year will enter the high-yield period, with continuous fruiting for more than 30 years.
· For potted shield leafberry, large pots with a diameter of over 30 cm should be used, one plant per pot. Repotting should be done in spring or autumn, and for shield leafberry planted for more than 3 years, larger pots with a diameter of 40-50 cm should be used to ensure yield. Sufficient base fertilizer, such as decomposed organic soil, should be filled around the roots of the plant.
2. Planting Methods
Shield leafberry can be planted as single plants or in rows.
· Single plant planting is suitable for sporadic planting in residential areas and for weakly tillering black raspberries. The spacing between plants should be 2 meters.
· Row planting is suitable for large-scale planting. The row spacing should be 1.5 meters and the plant spacing should be 0.8 meters. There should be 555 planting holes per acre.
· In cold regions where the soil needs to be covered for winter protection, the row spacing should be 2.5 meters and the plant spacing should be 0.3 meters. There should be 330 planting holes per acre.
· Whether planting single plants or in rows, it is advisable to plant 2-3 seedlings per hole in order to form a dense plant cluster and achieve high yields as soon as possible.
3. Planting Techniques
· Before planting, soak the roots of the seedlings in water for 12-24 hours to ensure sufficient water absorption and improve survival rate.
· The planting requirement is to plant the seedlings deep but not bury them too deeply. The root system of the seedlings should be 10-15 cm below the ground, and when covering the soil, it should not exceed the original soil mark. Deep planting is necessary because the new underground rhizomes grow higher with the age of the tree, while the lower root system ages each year. Shallow burial is mainly to shorten the recovery period and improve survival rate.
· After spring planting, shield leafberry plants take 1-2 months to produce basal shoots, as their nutrient centers are in the underground roots rather than aboveground. This is a unique characteristic of shield leafberry compared to other fruit trees, so the survival rate should be assessed 2 months after planting.
· After autumn planting, the root system of shield leafberry resumes growth before the soil freezes, while the aboveground buds enter a dormant state and do not sprout. This not only improves survival rate but also provides a good foundation for rapid growth in the following year. Therefore, the survival rate of shield leafberry is higher for autumn planting compared to spring planting.
