Proper autumn management of peach trees can increase peach orchard yields next year

The period from after peach harvest to before leaf fall is a critical time for nutrient accumulation and flower bud differentiation in peach trees. The quality of management directly affects the peach trees' ability to overwinter and resist cold and their growth and fruiting the following year. Therefore, fruit growers should pay attention to management work after peach harvest.

Fertilization: For early and mid-season varieties, fertilize early after harvest; especially for trees that bore excessive fruit, fertilize even earlier. For late-maturing varieties, fertilize before harvest. The fertilizer types should be high-quality organic fertilizer mixed with an appropriate amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compound fertilizer and micronutrient fertilizer. If autumn drought occurs, irrigate promptly. In addition, foliar feeding can be combined with pesticide spraying to supplement nutrients.

Spraying: To protect leaves so they have strong photosynthesis, which is beneficial for nutrient accumulation. After harvest, focus on controlling pests and diseases such as peach leaf shot hole disease, peach aphids, red spiders, and leaf miner moths. Available agents include 50% carbendazim 800-fold solution plus 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate 1500-fold solution.

Pruning: Thin out crossing branches, overlapping branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and thin weak branches within the canopy. The method of heading back branch tips is often used. Generally, moderately long fruit branches of medium vigor are appropriately headed back to allow them to bear fruit, and new shoots close to scaffold branches are selected for heavy heading back to stimulate new fruiting branches. At the same time, branch groups are retracted to encourage single buds in the lower part to produce strong shoots.

Cultivation: After harvest, cultivate and loosen the soil and remove weeds promptly, to a depth of 10-15 cm. After leaf fall, clean the orchard; after spraying to prevent pests and diseases, bury weeds and fallen leaves deeply under the trees. In flat land, low-lying land, and peach orchards with heavy soil or many weeds, pay even more attention to repairing the drainage system before the rainy season, lowering the groundwater level, clearing weeds, and avoiding water accumulation as much as possible.