Some measures to prevent durian fruit from drying

Durian fruit makes rice hard, pale, uneven in color and sharply reduces the selling price. Instructions to identify the main causes: erratic water, incorrect nutrition, poor fruit pruning, harvesting at the wrong ripeness stage and care for the fruit growing stage.

Summary: Sagging durian fruit is a very expensive quality error because the fruit may look beautiful on the outside, but when opened, the rice is hard, shabby, bland or uneven. Once the fruit is damaged, it cannot be repaired after harvest. Prevention of galling must be done from the fruit setting stage: stable water management, pruning fruit to suit the tree's strength, balanced potassium — calcium fertilization, limiting tree shock and harvesting at the right maturity.

Applies to: Durian Ri6, Dona, Monthong in the Southwest, Southeast and low Central Highlands.
Duration: From fruit set to harvest, especially the last 45-75 days before cutting.
Difficulty level: Advanced. Need to coordinate water, fertilizer, fruit pruning and harvest time.
Estimated additional costs: 5-15 million VND per hectare per crop for additional fertilizer, pruning and quality monitoring.

What is shame

Squishy is a condition in which durian rice is not soft, fatty and uniform. Some common symptoms:

Rice is hard, chewy, low in fat.
Some parts of the rice are soft and some are hard.
Rice color is uneven.
The odor is pale, dry, or has no odor.
Seeds and rice grow misaligned.

Sadness is not always due to gender. With the same variety, orchards with good water and nutrition management still clearly reduce wrinkling.

Main cause

The water is erratic

This is a very common cause:

Dry for a long time, then water vigorously.
Heavy rain is right when rice is accumulating.
orchard ditches stagnate water, causing roots to lack oxygen.
The tree suffered from water shock before harvest.

Durian needs to be evenly moist when cultivating fruit, but cannot tolerate waterlogging. Strong water fluctuations disrupt the metabolism of starch, sugar and fat in rice.

The tree bears too much fruit

A tree that bears fruit beyond its capacity usually has:

The fruit is unevenly large.
The rice is thin and of poor quality.
The tree declines after autumn.
The incidence of blemishes increases on weak branches.

Proper pruning doesn't cost you money; It helps the remaining fruit reach quality and preserves the tree's strength for the next crop.

Malnutrition

High nitrogen at the end of the season causes plants to bud, competing with fruit.
Potassium deficiency causes poor dry matter accumulation.
Lack of calcium and boron makes fruit tissue weak, easily causing physiological disorders.
Weak roots prevent the plant from absorbing evenly even though enough fertilizer is applied.

Nutrition to prevent frost is not about fertilizing a lot of potassium at once, but about raising the plant in a balanced way from fruit set.

Harvesting at the wrong ripeness

Slicing too young can easily result in incomplete rice. Cutting too late in rainy and humid conditions also makes quality difficult to control. Need to rely on the next day of beans, variety, stem signs, thorns, sound and experience of each orchard.

Preventing swelling in stages

After fruiting

Fruit pruning stage 1: remove distorted fruit, diseased fruit, and weak branch fruit.
Keep the water stable, don't let it dry too much.
Fertilize with balance, do not push nitrogen too hard.
Monitor the buds, avoid the tree growing too strong.

The stage of rapid fruit growth

Pruning fruit in phase 2, keeping the number of fruit according to the tree's strength.
Controlled hyperkalemia.
Add calcium and boron if the orchard has a history of cracking/cracking.
Keep drainage ditches clear after heavy rain.

The period 45-75 days before autumn

This is the stage that determines the quality of rice:

Keep evenly moist, avoid over-watering.
Do not fertilize with high nitrogen.
Do not let the tree produce strong buds.
Check the roots and leaves if the plant shows signs of yellowing or wilting.
Record rain, irrigation and fertilizer application times to trace if there is a problem.

Manage water to reduce swelling

Cover the roots with clean organic materials during the dry season, leaving the root collar intact.
Irrigate according to soil moisture, not according to feeling.
After heavy rain, check drainage ditches during the day.
Before harvest, keep moderately moist; Do not let it dry and then water vigorously.

If the orchard has an irrigation system, you should divide the water several times rather than pouring it all at once.

Prune fruit to fit the tree

Principle:

Small branches and branches outside the canopy keep little or no hold.
Fruit clusters that are too thick must be trimmed.
Deformed fruit, pests and diseases, weak stems and premature abandonment.
Prioritize fruit near the trunk, strong branches, and an easy-to-raise location.

There is no standard number of fruits for every tree. A healthy tree with thick leaves and good roots can feed more than a tree that has just recovered from a heavy crop.

Common mistakes

Wait until autumn to stop feeling embarrassed: too late. Quality rice is formed from the fruit growing stage.

Strongly apply potassium at the end of the season: easy to shock roots, imbalance with calcium and magnesium.

Let the tree bear too much fruit: the quantity is high but the quality is reduced, the tree will fail in the next crop.

Irrigation after drought: increased water shock and left physiological disorders.

Cut prematurely to increase the price: rice is not good enough, easily rated as poor product.

Monitor and record

[ ] The number of fruits retained per tree according to the tree's strength group.
[ ] Irrigation schedule and rainfall for the last 75 days.
[ ] Potassium, calcium, boron fertilization schedule
[ ] The condition of budding during the fruit growing stage.
[ ] Proportion of damaged fruits when opening the sample.
[ ] Location of damaged fruit: weak branch, crown tip or whole tree.

If you carefully record 2-3 crops, you will see a pattern: damage caused by water, fruit overload or harvesting.