Taiwan - Demonstration and effectiveness of flood-resistant cultivation methods for wax apples

Issues and Objectives

Wax apples are prone to cracking during the ripening period, requiring controlled water absorption to stabilize fruit quality. Furthermore, wax apples are tropical fruit trees and are intolerant of low temperatures. If the plant encounters temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius during the budding stage to fruit ripening, it is highly susceptible to cold damage, leading to fruit peel damage (Figure 1), leaf drop, flower drop, and fruit drop.

Figure 1. Symptoms of peel damage caused by cold damage to wax apple fruit (Image source: Reference 1)

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Improvement Measures Taken

Flooding during the young fruit stage of wax apples allows the root system to adapt to the flooded environment and creates an adverse environment to suppress tree vigor. Preventing excessive shoot growth helps nutrients flow back to the fruit. Additionally, wax apple orchards in Linbian, Jiadong, and Nanzhou in Pingtung can introduce groundwater and heat the orchards during cold snaps, hoping to use water vapor to keep the wax apples warm and avoid the damage caused by low temperatures (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Flooding cultivation method for wax apple trees to prevent cold damage (Image source: Reference website 7)

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Results

Fruit farmers in Jiadong Township, Pingtung County, have adopted a flood cultivation method that forces the roots to rot in the water, indirectly inhibiting the unruly growth of twigs and allowing nutrients from the leaves to flow back to the fruit, resulting in high-sweetness fruit. In addition, the flood cultivation method has protected the wax apple trees from the damage caused by the 10-degree cold wave in 2018, winning the top prize in the wax apple evaluation that year.

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Reference Websites

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