Pollination, Fruit Thinning and Harvesting Techniques for Peach Tree Cultivation

Practice has shown that to achieve high yields in peaches, pollination, fruit thinning and harvesting must be carried out at the right time.

Pollination: During the flowering period of peaches, rainy and low-temperature weather often occurs, creating obstacles to normal pollination. This contradiction is even more pronounced for pollenless varieties. To achieve high and stable yields in peaches, artificial pollination must be carried out.

The specific method is: after collecting the pollen, when more than 50% of the flowers on the whole tree have opened, hand-pollinate the flowers. Pollinate trees that bloom first first, completing pollination in one pass. Mark each large branch as you finish it to avoid repetition or omission. Pollinate 6-8 flowers on long fruit branches, 3-4 on medium fruit branches, and 2-3 on short fruit branches to ensure uniform fruit set. If it rains or a late frost occurs shortly after pollination, repeat the pollination once for a better effect.

Fruit thinning: When peaches set too much fruit, thinning must be carried out from late April to mid-May (before the pit hardens).

The specific method is: generally leave 1 fruit on short fruit branches, 1-3 fruits on medium fruit branches, and 3-5 fruits on long fruit branches; on excessively vigorous fruiting branches, more may be left as appropriate. Remove deformed fruit, insect-damaged fruit, small fruit, upward-growing fruit and twin fruit. For late-maturing varieties, to reduce pesticide use and improve quality, bagging cultivation can also be used after fruit thinning.

Harvesting: For fresh peaches sold domestically, harvesting at about 80% maturity is appropriate, that is, when most of the skin of white peaches has turned white; for processing yellow peaches, harvesting at 60-70% maturity is better, when they are pale yellow. After harvest, leave them at room temperature for 1-2 days until the fruit color turns yellow, and they are ready for processing.