How to cultivate double-cropping peaches? A full share of planting experience

With the progress of breeding technology, extremely early-maturing peaches (such as Siyuehong peach and Wuyuecui peach) and extremely late-maturing peaches (such as Xuetao, Shengtao and Dongtao) have appeared one after another, creating favorable conditions for extending the market supply period of peaches and improving the economic benefits of peach growers. However, in actual cultivation, early-maturing peaches shed leaves early, have many flower buds and a high fruit yield, and are prone to early tree decline. Late-maturing and extremely late-maturing peaches consume few nutrients in the early growth stage, and the tree body is rich in nutrients and grows too vigorously, resulting in relatively serious fruit drop, which brings difficulties to growers' cultivation management. If extremely early-maturing peach varieties are top-grafted into the inner canopy of late-maturing and extremely late-maturing peach trees, the goal of integrating early and late crops into one, mutually filling gaps and achieving high efficiency can be attained.

According to the author's experiments, with this technique, in the second year a peach tree can produce 4 kg of fruit (including 1 kg of early peaches and 3 kg of late peaches), in the third year it can reach about 15 kg, and in the fourth year it can achieve a large harvest. The cultivation technique is introduced as follows:

1. Cultivate strong seedlings. Use wild peach or mountain peach sown in the same year as the rootstock, and use late-maturing varieties (such as Xuetao, Dongtao, Shengtao, Cuimitao, Gongjin Datao and Huangjin Mitao) as scions, and in early June use the "T"-shaped budding method to graft in the wild peach rootstock nursery. Through two pruning treatments of the rootstock, the grafted buds sprout in the same year; when the sprouts grow to 50 cm, pinch off the growing tips or treat with paclobutrazol, so that plump strong buds form within the shaping zone.

2. Reasonable planting. Dig planting trenches at a spacing of 2 m × 4 m or 3 m × 4 m, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and then plant in early winter or early spring, applying no or little rooting fertilizer to prevent seedling burn. Apply frequent light topdressing; late-maturing peaches planted in the same year can form a canopy of more than 1 m in May-June. At this time, use "T"-shaped budding to graft extremely early-maturing sweet peaches on the inner canopy and at the forks between two trees. Cut off the branches above the grafted buds (the cut should be more than 5 cm from the grafted bud), and remove other young shoots and leaves sprouting on the branches.

3. Tree management after grafting. After grafting, apply a quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer to the whole tree once; when the grafted buds grow to 40 cm, pinch off the growing tips, or spray paclobutrazol over the whole orchard once. Clear the ditches and drain waterlogging, and do well in branch pulling, tree hanging, branch twisting and control of leafhoppers and aphids.