Chapter 230
In addition to the leaves, they have also grown many new branches, which appear to have formed a canopy.
Qing Mengzhu looked up at the branches and decided to wait for them to grow longer before pruning them in the summer.
Ming Chunxi asked, "Will durians flower and bear fruit this year?"
Looking at the durian tree, Qing Mengzhu, as Intermediate Grower, assessed the situation. "It shouldn't be a big problem, just a little less fruit. It should recover next year."
Ming Chunxi: "That's something to look forward to. We'll have to come and see when the time comes."
Qing Mengzhu: "Great! We'll come over and eat tree-ripened durians then; they'll definitely taste much better than the durians sold outside."
As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu pulled Ming Chunxi forward, saying, "Let's go see how the coffee trees are growing? Ping Lin said before the New Year that the coffee trees were growing very well and even needed some pruning. I wonder what kind of 'very well' they mean?"
Ming Chunxi: "It means there are a lot of leaves?"
Qing Mengzhu: "We'll know once we go and see."
The mangosteen and durian trees in the orchard belong to the company, but the coffee trees are their own.
Although the coffee trees are usually managed by the company, the company doesn't do much; their main tasks are watering, weeding, and recording the growth of the coffee trees.
Qing Mengzhu checked the surveillance footage before the Lunar New Year. She had been busy with the holiday and hadn't paid much attention to the coffee trees; she hadn't seen them for over half a month.
Upon closer inspection, Qing Mengzhu discovered that these coffee trees were much better than he had imagined.
These coffee trees have grown many branches, and the branches are covered with many leaves. Qing Mengzhu couldn't quite describe the condition of these coffee trees in a short time.
If I had to describe it, these coffee trees are like willow branches bursting forth in spring, with dense and numerous branches and many leaves.
After a careful inspection, Qing Mengzhu said, "There's too much fertilizer; it's growing too tall and has become leggy. The branches need some pruning."
Ming Chunxi was standing nearby, also looked through the papers and asked, "Do we need to give them growth regulators?"
Qing Mengzhu: "Not for now. Using too many growth regulators isn't a good thing either. Just prune off the excess thin branches, and the coffee tree will naturally supply nutrients to the thicker branches. After pruning a few more times, the shape will come out."
Ming Chunxi nodded. "It seems we should focus all our attention on coffee trees this year."
Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, if we give them a good foundation while they're growing, they should be able to produce high-quality coffee berries in a couple of years."
At this point, Qing Mengzhu with a hint of regret, "It's a pity that coffee twigs also contain caffeine, so they're not very useful; otherwise, we could have taken them back to feed the cows."
"Speaking of coffee bushes—" Ming Chunxi glanced around and said, "The rye grass seems to be growing exceptionally well this year?"
Qing Mengzhu had been focusing all her attention on the fruit trees and hadn't noticed this phenomenon.
At this moment, he looked up and examined it carefully, and found that the ryegrass was indeed growing tall and strong, and the whole orchard was like a carpet of grass.
With so much rye grass, Qing Mengzhu thought, if the cats outside came to eat the grass again, Han Lei and the others definitely wouldn't fight with the cats anymore.
Apart from the ryegrass under the fruit trees being deliberately cleared by the staff, traces of ryegrass can be seen almost everywhere else in the orchard.
This definitely didn't grow naturally. They didn't have many ryegrass seeds at the time, and ryegrass certainly wouldn't grow to this size naturally.
Qing Mengzhu was too lazy to guess the reason, so she simply asked Ping Lin, the person in charge here.
Ping Lin said, "We saw that the ryegrass was growing very well. Manager Zhao said that once we had a lot of ryegrass, we could consider making it into pet treats, so we propagated some cuttings."
Qing Mengzhu: "Cuttings?"
Ping Lin: "Yes, we took cuttings in winter, using grass stems as cuttings and inserting them directly into the soil. Perhaps because it rained a few days after we took the cuttings, or perhaps because ryegrass itself is very resilient, almost all of our cuttings survived."
Qing Mengzhu examined it carefully. "Besides the cuttings, it seems that some ryegrass grew naturally?"
Ping Lin: "Pretty much. When the ryegrass grows to a certain stage, it will naturally divide."
To check on the condition of the ryegrass, Qing Mengzhu dragged Ming Chunxi all over the orchard.
He soon discovered that these ryegrass plants were incredibly resilient; even without sufficient fertilizer and water, most of them maintained their "Superior Grade" quality.
They put a lot of effort and used many methods when growing other crops, just to barely keep the quality of their crops from declining.
The ryegrass just grows so casually, and surprisingly, its quality doesn't drop much.
It seems they can cultivate a variety of ryegrass and develop corresponding products.
After being amazed by the quality of the ryegrass, Qing Mengzhu soon discovered something else—the soil in which the ryegrass grew was of exceptionally high quality.
After becoming Intermediate Grower, Qing Mengzhu, relying on his professional skills and the assistance of the Mall Assistant, gradually unified the evaluation system for living and non-living things. Now he has his own set of evaluation standards for living and non-living things.
The well water from their house could probably be rated as "Superior Grade+", while the water from the Spirit Pearl Dregs could probably be rated as "Fine Grade+".
Soil treated with Soil Fertility Restoration Agent can be rated as "Superior Grade+", while the company's general soil is mostly in the range of "Good Grade+" to "Fine Grade+".
Soil quality varies considerably, changing with planting and use.
After a crop has been grown, the soil quality generally declines due to the absorption and utilization of trace elements and the increase and changes in soil organisms and microorganisms such as insects and bacteria.
In most cases, the soil quality will drop by two minor grades, for example, from "Fine Grade" to "Good Grade+".
He then inspected the soil where ryegrass had been planted and found that the soil quality had not only not declined, but had actually improved slightly, generally rising from "Fine Grade" to "Fine Grade".
This is very unusual.
Qing Mengzhu asked Ping Lin to bring over the tools so that the soil, along with the ryegrass, could be taken for testing.
Ping Lin didn't know much about soil remediation, but he did know a fair bit about Qing Mengzhu.
Seeing Qing Mengzhu's expression, he knew this batch of ryegrass was excellent, and couldn't help but excitedly ask, "If ryegrass really has a strong restorative effect, can we promote its application and plant it on other lands?"
Qing Mengzhu: "Yes! If it's useful, we'll consider planting them all."
Ryegrass has a lower planting cost than Tuan Brassica.
It is very resilient and requires little care after planting. It has many applications; in addition to being a high-quality forage, it can also be used for composting.
Of course, this is assuming the pollution level is not serious. If the pollution is serious, then it needs to be rendered harmless.
Qing Mengzhu felt that planting ryegrass was mainly to improve soil quality. Unlike Tuan Brassica, which is used to treat soil pollution, the pollutants in the ryegrass planted would not be significantly affected.
However, they are not clear about the specifics yet and will have to wait for the test results.
Qing Mengzhu had a premonition that ryegrass would play an important role in their cultivation.
Thinking of this, Qing Mengzhu suppressed her excitement and said again, "Send it for testing first; we need to do a comprehensive test."
Chapter 230
Zhuxi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.. is no longer the small company it used to be. Now they have both the necessary equipment and personnel, making testing much simpler than before.
The test results came back quickly.
Test results showed that this batch of ryegrass had a stronger soil remediation effect than ordinary ryegrass.
The soil it repairs shows improvements in all aspects, with a particularly significant increase in organic matter content. It also releases a special secretion that promotes plant growth.