How to Plant a Peach Pit After Eating the Peach? A Detailed Guide to Peach Pit Planting Techniques
It is summer now, which is also the time when many fruits hit the market. In summer, people also like to buy some fresh peaches to eat, and there are many varieties of peaches. Different varieties differ greatly in size, taste and nutritional value. So can we plant the peach pits left after eating peaches? Next, the editor will teach you some planting techniques for peach pits.
How to Plant Peaches After Eating Them
1. After eating a peach, keep the pit, then crack open the outer shell and take out the kernel inside. Soak the peach kernel in water, and once the outer membrane has softened, tear off half of the membrane at the pointed end.
2. Prepare a paper towel and a plate, pour water into the plate, then put the paper towel in. Once the paper towel is completely soaked, pour out the excess water from the plate.
3. Place the peach kernel on the paper towel, fold the paper towel a little to create a crease, and tuck the pointed part inside a bit. Cover the plate with plastic wrap, then place it in a ventilated spot that receives indirect light and observe; the peach kernel will slowly sprout.
4. Transplant the sprouted peach kernel into sand or nutrient soil for care, and be careful to spray water every day to maintain air humidity. The peach kernel will slowly grow and soon become a beautiful potted plant, and after a few years, you will be able to eat peaches.
Peach Pit Planting Techniques
1. Seed treatment
The most reliable method in production is sand storage stratification. For seeds that cannot be stratified in time, before sowing, they can be soaked in hot water mixed two parts boiling and one part cold, or scalded with boiling water, then soaked for 2-3 days and sprouted before sowing. Seeds that have been stratified or soaked should be sprouted before spring sowing. Mix the seeds with a small amount of wet sand and place them in a warm, sunny spot sheltered from the wind. During the day, cover them well with plastic film, and at night add coverings to keep them warm, maintaining the temperature at 15-20 degrees. Turn them once or twice a day, and once 20% of the seeds have germinated, they can be sown. Seeds can also be placed directly in a warm place to sprout without mixing with sand, but be careful to rinse the seeds with clean water every morning and evening to remove excess carbon dioxide and prevent mildew.
2. Land preparation and sowing
The nursery land should be deeply plowed and given sufficient base fertilizer. After land preparation, flat beds are usually sufficient for sowing. In low-lying, flood-prone areas, raised beds or high ridges can be used for seedling raising. Before spring sowing, irrigate enough bottom water. One to two days after the water seeps down, level and finely rake the bed surface, then open furrows for sowing. The row spacing is generally 50-60 cm, with 5000-8000 seedlings per mu. To make economical use of the land and increase the number of seedlings per unit area, wide-narrow strip sowing can be used: wide rows 50-60 cm, narrow rows 20-30 cm, four rows per bed, with about 10000 seedlings per mu. The sowing depth is 3-5 cm, and the sowing rate is 30-50 kg per mu. After sowing, cover with soil and press down promptly. To reduce soil moisture evaporation, prevent soil crusting and raise soil temperature, the bed surface should be covered with 0.5-1 cm of fine sand or a layer of plastic film. When using plastic film mulching for seedling raising, the film can be laid 10-15 days before sowing to raise soil temperature. When sowing, poke a small hole in the film according to the hill spacing for dibbling, then cover with wet soil. For rapid seedling raising, a film hoop tunnel can also be added.
3. Management of young trees
1. Removing coverings: For those covered with plastic film after sowing, check frequently. Once seedlings emerge, tear the film promptly to let them out, so as to prevent the seedlings from bending, yellowing or drying up. For concentrated seedling beds, once some seedlings have emerged, remove the plastic film promptly. Regardless of the seedling raising method, when a small hoop tunnel film is added, ventilate and harden the seedlings first, and only remove the tunnel film after the seedlings have adapted to the external environment. Note that removing the film is best done on a cloudy day or in the evening.
2. Thinning and final thinning: When seedlings grow 2-3 true leaves, thin them out, removing crowded, weak and pest- or disease-damaged seedlings, and at the same time transplant to fill gaps where seedlings are missing. When seedlings have 4-5 true leaves, finalize the spacing at 10-20 cm between plants. For concentrated seedling beds, transplant to the nursery field once the seedlings grow 1-2 true leaves.
3. Soil management: Thinning and final thinning should be combined with intertillage to close cracks, so as to prevent young roots from being exposed and seedlings dying from wind leaks. Transplanting to fill gaps should be followed by timely irrigation to help the seedlings survive. When seedlings have 5-7 true leaves, control irrigation and do hardening to prevent excessive growth. In May and June, seedlings grow faster and the weather is relatively dry, so attention must be paid to irrigation, and 1-2 topdressings should be applied along with irrigation, with 5-10 kg of urea per mu each time. If the seedlings are weak and slender, another topdressing can be applied in early July.
4. Pinching and lateral shoot treatment: Peach rootstock seedlings grow quickly and tend to produce lateral shoots. About one month before grafting, when the seedlings are 30 cm tall, pinch the tips to promote thickening growth. Lateral shoots that emerge within ten cm of the ground on the seedling stem should be cut off early while keeping the basal leaves, to facilitate grafting, while all other lateral shoots should be retained to expand leaf area and increase nutrient accumulation.
5. Pest and disease control: In spring, seedlings are prone to damping-off and seedling blight, especially under low temperature and high humidity, which can cause large numbers of seedling deaths. The control method is, after the seedlings emerge, to disinfect the soil by dusting powder or spraying. After applying the treatment, shallow hoe. If disease begins, promptly pull out diseased plants, open shallow furrows on both sides of the seedling rows, and drench the roots with 200 times ferrous sulfate solution or 500 times 65% zineb wettable powder.
4. Cultivation of grafted seedlings
1. Collecting scions: Scions should be collected from mother trees that are true to variety, vigorous, high-yielding and stable-yielding, and free of quarantine objects and other serious pests and diseases. Scions for spring branch grafting can be selected along with winter pruning, while scions for summer budding are best grafted as soon as they are collected.
2. Grafting techniques: Spring grafting is generally carried out in March to April, when the rootstock sap begins to flow but before it has budded. Techniques such as cut grafting, cleft grafting and side grafting can be used. When the rootstock has already budded but the scion has not yet sprouted, bud grafting with wood can be used.
Tips for Planting and Fertilizing Peach Pits in Autumn
When planting and applying base fertilizer in autumn, it is best to choose mid-October to late October, and note that the base fertilizer should mainly be organic fertilizer, including farmyard manure, bio-organic fertilizer, soybean cake, etc. Under normal circumstances, when fertilizing peach plantings, the amount of farmyard manure should be controlled at more than 3000 kg per mu. For fertilizing after seedlings emerge, the furrow method is recommended, opening furrows between rows or between plants, with the depth and width generally 40-50 cm, finally determined according to the amount of fertilizer. Note that organic fertilizer must be thoroughly decomposed.
When to Transplant Peach Pits After They Sprout
Transplanting and field planting time: The best transplanting period is before the peach pits sprout the following year, or in late autumn after leaf fall and before the soil freezes, when the aboveground part of the tree is dormant; large trees can also be transplanted. Large trees that are difficult to survive transplanting need to be moved with large soil balls, and can be transplanted with soil balls in late autumn and early winter, but avoid the severe cold period and do a good job of protecting the soil surface and guarding against wind and cold. In Yiyuan, Shandong, it is best to do this before the end of the year (it can be transplanted and field planted together with walnut trees).
In the article above, the editor also taught everyone some peach pit planting techniques. In fact, our south is still quite suitable for growing peaches. Moreover, peach trees do not require much effort during their growth period. And the fruit you grow yourself is also the healthiest and safest.