A Detailed Guide to Peach Tree Cultivation: Teaching You How to Grow Peach Trees Well
Peaches are one of the common fruits people enjoy, and their sweet, juicy flavor is deeply loved by everyone. As peaches have grown in popularity, peach tree cultivation has become a hot industry. Peach trees are planted widely across our country, and the economic profits are high, making it a good choice. Below, the editor will talk about peach tree cultivation techniques.
How to Plant Peach Trees
1. Generally, peach trees are planted at 500-840 trees per hectare. Planting can be done anytime from after leaf fall to before bud break.
2. A peach orchard must not be continuously cropped, otherwise young trees will noticeably weaken in growth, leaves will lose their green color, new roots will turn brown and branch excessively, and the trunk and branches will exude gum.
3. The potassium content in peach fruit is 3.2 times that of nitrogen. Increasing potassium fertilizer application results in larger fruit and higher yields.
4. A peach orchard needs frequent inter-row cultivation and weeding to keep the soil loose, and timely drainage to prevent waterlogging and root rot.
5. After peach trees are planted, proper pruning is also very good. Generally, many people like to train peach trees into a natural open-center shape.
Soil Management for Peach Trees
1. Deep plowing: In peach orchards with heavy clay soil, to improve the soil, deep plowing is carried out between the rows to a depth of about 60cm, combined with the application of organic fertilizer. Sandy gravel peach orchards are also deep plowed, removing gravel and replacing soil, combined with the application of organic fertilizer. Deep plowing plays a good role in achieving high yields year after year.
2. Autumn plowing: Carried out before and after leaf fall combined with the application of organic fertilizer, to a depth of 20-30cm.
3. Intercropping: Intercrops in peach orchards can include beans, melons, strawberries, peanuts, etc. Green manure crops such as hairy vetch and alfalfa can also be planted. Regardless of which crop is planted, sufficient tree must be left, with timely fertilization, irrigation, and inter-row cultivation and weeding.
Transplanting Peach Trees
1. Before understanding peach tree planting, let us learn about its seedling preparation. Peach trees are mainly propagated by grafting, but can also be propagated by sowing, cuttings, and layering. For seedlings used as rootstock, pinch off the growing tip when the seedling height reaches 25-30 cm to make the seedling thicker. By late summer and early autumn, it can reach the thickness required for the rootstock at grafting time.
2. Transplanting is best done in early spring or after leaf fall in autumn. Small seedlings can be transplanted bare-root or with mud slurry coating, while large seedlings need to be transplanted with a soil ball. Large seedling cultivation requires shaping and pruning to form a framework. Peach trees are generally trained into a natural cup-shaped canopy or a natural open-center canopy.
Fertilizer Requirements of Peach Trees
Peach trees are light-loving small trees that bear fruit early, weaken quickly, and have a short lifespan. They generally bear fruit in 2-3 years, with 5-15 years being the peak fruiting period. Flower bud differentiation and flowering and fruiting of peach trees are completed within two years. The nutritional status of the previous year not only affects the current year's fruit yield but also has a direct impact on the next year's flowering and fruiting. In the first few weeks of early spring bud break, peach trees mainly use stored nutrients within the plant. Therefore, the amount of nutrients absorbed and accumulated in the peach tree in the previous autumn greatly affects flower bud differentiation and the following year's flowering, which in turn affects peach tree yield. So, after the peach harvest, fertilizer and water management should still be strengthened. Because peach tree roots are shallow, the soil is required to have good aeration. In fertilization, farmyard manure should be applied, and the farmyard manure should be moderately mixed to increase the soil's granular structure and raise the soil's air content. In terms of nutritional requirements, young trees mainly need phosphorus fertilizer, combined with an appropriate amount of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer, to promote root growth and tree development. After entering the full fruiting period, the focus of fertilization is to coordinate the growth of peach tree shoots with flowering and fruiting. Fertilization mainly uses nitrogen and potassium fertilizer, combined with a certain amount of phosphorus fertilizer and trace element fertilizer.
Main Disease Control Measures for Peach Trees
1. Strengthen peach orchard management, enhance tree vigor, pay attention to drainage, increase organic fertilizer application, avoid excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer, increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizer application, improve ventilation and light conditions in the peach orchard, prune reasonably, cut off diseased branches, clear fallen leaves, dead branches, mummified fruit, and fallen fruit on the ground, and burn or deeply bury them in a centralized manner.
2. Before peach tree bud break, spray once with 5 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture or 45% lime sulfur crystal 30-fold solution or 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture. Starting 10 days after flower drop, spray “ethylicin” 1500-2000-fold solution or 72% agricultural streptomycin soluble powder 3000-fold plus Dasonil M-45 wettable powder 600-800-fold solution, alternating with 12.5% myclobutanil 1500-fold solution or 70% thiophanate-methyl 600-fold solution at 10-day intervals, spraying 2-3 times. Depending on disease occurrence, pesticide can also be sprayed promptly at the early stage of disease onset to control the condition and reduce damage.
Flower and Fruit Thinning of Peach Trees
Heavy fruit set affects tree growth and development, weakens tree vigor, results in small fruit and reduced quality, and affects the quantity and quality of flower bud differentiation. Therefore, under the premise of comprehensive management, reasonable flower and fruit thinning is one of the important measures for high, stable, and quality peach yields.
1. Flower thinning: Manual flower thinning is generally carried out during the bud stage and flowering stage. The flower thinning method is to first thin the flowers at the base of fruiting branches, keep the middle and upper flowers, and among the middle and upper flowers, thin double flowers and keep single flowers. All flowers on预备枝 should be removed.
2. Fruit thinning: Usually carried out after the second fruit drop when fruit set is relatively stable, and completed when the pit hardens. When fruit set is excessive, carry out the first fruit thinning 1 week after flower drop, leaving about 3 times the final fruit load. Early-maturing varieties can be thinned appropriately earlier, and late-maturing varieties can be thinned appropriately later. The fruit load should be determined based on historical yields, the current year's growth vigor, and fruit set conditions. Generally, on long fruiting branches, leave 1 large fruit, 2 medium fruit, or 4 small fruit. On medium fruiting branches, leave 1 large fruit, 1 medium fruit, or 2 small fruit. On short branches, leave no large fruit or 2. Leave no fruit on.
After reading the above tips and methods for planting peach trees, everyone should have a further understanding. When choosing saplings, be sure to select high-quality varieties, so you can have a good start and foundation. Only by planting according to reasonable and scientific methods will you certainly harvest a large crop of healthy and delicious peaches.