Chifeng Red Plum

Chifeng Red Plum

　　Variety origin: Selected from a seedling population of Zhumei at Zhixi Village, Chifeng Town, Chao'an County in 1994.

　　Characteristics: The tree has an open canopy, medium to vigorous vigor, strong branching ability, relatively dense branches, with short fruiting branches accounting for 41%, medium ones 37%. Leaves are large, with abundant flowering and a high ratio of perfect flowers. Fruits are oval-shaped, with relatively uniform size, weighing 20.8 grams per fruit. The edible rate is 91.3%. The peel is yellow-green with a red blush on the sun-exposed side. The flesh is fine and crisp, with an acidic flavor and no bitterness. Soluble solids content is 8.7%, total acid 5.64%, total sugar 1.18%, vitamin C 18.7 mg/100g, and insoluble dietary fiber 1.26%.

　　Yield performance: Trees start bearing fruit in the third year after planting, with an average yield of 2.0 kg per plant. In the fourth year, the average yield is 4.7 kg per plant, and in the fifth year, 7.6 kg per plant, equivalent to 250.8 kg per mu. At peak production, the average yield is 36.6 kg per plant, equivalent to 1207.0 kg per mu.

　　Key cultivation techniques: (1) Rootstock selection: Choose local plum rootstocks or seedling plums as scion rootstocks; (2) Orchard establishment: Select hilly or mountainous land with slopes below 25 degrees; (3) Planting: Spacing should be 4 m × 5 m. Planting trenches or pits should have a surface width of 1 m, bottom width of 0.8 m, and depth of 0.6–0.8 m. Also plant an appropriate proportion of peach plum, white plum, and zhumei as pollinizers; (4) Base fertilizer: Apply 20–30 kg of green manure, 10–15 kg of well-rotted chicken or pig/cattle manure, 1 kg of superphosphate, and 1 kg of lime powder per pit as base fertilizer; (5) Pruning and training: For young trees, select 3 main branches on the trunk, prune them to 45 cm, then choose 2–3 lateral branches to develop an open-centered tree canopy. For mature bearing trees, prune in both summer and winter. Summer pruning involves timely removal of upright or excessively vigorous branches in the upper canopy, and for shaded orchards, "opening the canopy," cutting back crossing branches, and thinning overly dense branches.

　　Provincial Variety Approval Committee opinion: Chifeng Red Plum is a clonal fruiting plum variety. It matures in mid-April when planted in eastern Guangdong. It bears fruit early and offers stable, high yields. The fruits are oval-shaped and medium-sized, with a high edible rate, fine and crisp flesh, and excellent quality, making them suitable for processing. It is suitable for planting in the coastal mountainous areas of eastern Guangdong. It meets the standards of the Guangdong Provincial Crop Variety Approval and has been approved.