What are the key points to note when winter pruning and training peach trees
When winter pruning and training peach trees, there must be an order; otherwise, once you blindly cut through the process, regrets of one kind or another will appear and cause losses. In other words, there is a sequence of first and last, so that after winter pruning the peach tree's scaffold branches and fruiting branches are well organized and occupy the space relatively evenly and reasonably. This creates the maximum light energy utilization rate for high yield and quality. So, what issues should be noted when winter pruning and training peach trees?
1. Before pruning, know the yielding ability of the variety.
At present, there are many varieties of peach trees planted. Those who prune their own peach trees all know the yielding ability of the varieties they planted, but there is still a large number of people who do not do it themselves and hire local pruning teams or pruning experts to carry out winter pruning and training. The orchard owner and the pruner must clearly communicate the yielding performance of the variety. For varieties with good yielding ability, the method of determining yield by the tree, determining branches by the yield, and determining fruit by the branches should be adopted, and the pruning technique of heading back plus long pruning can also be used. For varieties with average yielding ability, it is more reasonable to adopt the long pruning technique of appropriately leaving more branches. Regardless of yielding performance, applying the same technique across the board is unacceptable. If a variety with strong yielding performance has too many fruiting branches left, fruit thinning costs labor, consumes more nutrients, and the fruit still does not grow large. For varieties with average yielding ability and poor fruit set rate, leaving few branches affects yield.
2. Pay attention to the relationship between the individual and the group.
In a peach orchard, the level of light energy utilization depends on the reasonable arrangement of plant and row spacing and the design of the tree shape. Most peach orchards have a relatively reasonable arrangement of plant and row spacing, but the tree shape design is often not quite in place, and determining the tree shape by density is especially important. The wide-row close-planting cultivation now promoted is suitable for tree shapes such as the central leader form and the V shape, facilitating mechanization and water-fertilizer integration for labor-saving operations. In the old cultivation model, plants are sparse and the row spacing is slightly larger than the plant spacing, generally designed as an open-center form with three or four scaffold branches. There is no unified standard tree shape, and during growth the main branches often crowd each other, causing shading and light leakage, which affects yield and quality. Therefore, when winter pruning and training a single tree, the relationship with the four surrounding trees must be considered, and a row of trees should be pruned as if it were one tree. That is, the mutual relationship with the left and right neighbors. Within the row, the spacing between scaffold branches must not be less than 1 m, and between rows the working aisle must not be less than 1 m. As long as they affect each other, the scaffold branches must be headed back or removed. Try to make the tree's scaffold branches occupy the space reasonably and evenly, achieving maximum light energy utilization. This is called having form without being rigid, being without form without being chaotic, making the form according to the tree, and pruning according to the branch.
3. Make the form according to the tree and prune according to the branch.
Some peach orchards do not pay attention to the cultivation of the framework, the taper is small, the bearing capacity is poor, and after fruiting the framework is easily deformed. A reasonable angle becomes a large angle or even a negative angle, so the scaffold branch framework must be corrected again. For example, if it becomes a shallow-plate tree shape, then vigorous shoots at reasonable positions on the back of the scaffold branch must be used to recultivate the scaffold branch, and the original leader is gradually headed back, or it is transformed into a one-main-branch multi-trunk form. After the new framework is built and formed, the old scaffold branches can be removed at one time, opening the space between rows, solving the light problem, and also achieving three-dimensional fruiting, so high yield and quality are no problem.
Pruning according to the branch: this refers to the handling of fruiting branches and vegetative branches of various sizes. If handled properly, there will be fruit every year, and every year there will be good, strong reserve fruiting branches. When leaving fruiting branches, multiple fruiting branches on one branch group must be compared, leaving the strong and not the weak; overly thick ones are heavily headed back to produce branches as next year's fruiting branches. If there is a good branch nearby, head back to the good branch; if there is a good fruiting branch farther away, appropriately leave it farther away and remove the weak branch nearby. This is called utilizing waste branches to bear good fruit. However, farther must have a limit; it is not that the farther the better.
4. Combining thinning and heading back is the main method to solve tree vigor balance.
On one framework branch (including the central leader form), buds differ in plumpness, and thickness, angle, and growth vigor differ, resulting in differences among weak branches, strong branches, and thick branches. To balance branch vigor, summer pruning must be combined with three times of heading back and thinning in May, July, and September (heavy pinching) and branch thinning. If done promptly and properly, branch vigor will be even and tree vigor will be balanced. Thinning: that is, removing thick branches. On the trunk there must not be large club-like branches (branches with a diameter over 1 cm), because their pulling force is too great and they easily become cap branches, the lower part gets no light, and over time the lower branches die. Try to thin them from the base, which can achieve the effect of suppressing the front and promoting the rear. Heading back (including heavy heading back) can both promote the vigor of the main branch and weaken branch vigor. This is called having both promotion and control; only by combining promotion and control can tree vigor be balanced.
5. If the form is chaotic, first find the leader; with a leader, the tree form is good.
Some peach growers do not understand the light-absorbing characteristics of peach trees. Open-center trees leave too many scaffold branches, reaching 5-6; the more scaffold branches, the worse the inner canopy light. When the tree is young and small, ventilation and light penetration are less affected, and there are still many fruiting branches in the inner canopy. As tree age increases and it enters the full bearing period, if soil management and investment in fertilization are unreasonable, plus mistakes in pruning adjustment, the phenomenon of strong top and weak bottom suddenly appears, resulting in a bare inner canopy and a skin-like outer layer. Add the branch-chasing pruning technique, and there will be more large club-like branches, the ability to draw nutrients becomes stronger, and the small fruiting branches below die without light, causing bare-leg disjunction. During winter pruning, 3-4 scaffold branches should be determined, and excess ones should be thoroughly thinned in time, which can open the light path. For thick, large competitive branches at the top, they can be removed from the base at one time, and a stronger branch with a good angle should be selected as the framework extension leader, thus achieving an open-center tree shape with distinct scaffold branches. During the germination and flowering period, where there are few branches on the lower part of the trunk, new buds that can sprout should be promptly wounded with a saw, and better new shoots can grow, which can be trained into fruiting branch groups according to the size of the space to fill the space and increase yield.
6. Leaving a stub and keeping buds when pruning is one of the important methods to increase branching.
As tree age increases, the main branch (trunk) has fewer and fewer secondary buds, so the pruning technique must be changed in good time, from the method of thinning one and leaving one to heading back to cultivate small and medium branch groups, with alternate fruiting on the branch groups. Grasp shriveled buds at the upper part, small buds in the middle, and plump buds at the lower part, and carry out single-branch renewal and two-branch renewal. The developed branch vigor and length will then be basically the same, and the whole tree will be basically balanced (including summer pinching). Never blindly thin all the way to the end, or you will artificially cause bare-leg disjunction.
7. Note! Integrated management is the guarantee.
Combining summer pruning with winter pruning, when the tree shape is good and the flower buds are plump, the foundation for high yield and quality is laid, but truly improving the fruit set rate and quality cannot be separated from integrated management; not one item can be missing. If water and fertilizer are applied unreasonably, it can also cause a large amount of fruit drop, and it is very difficult to improve external quality and internal quality. Without scientific plant protection work as a guarantee, good returns are out of the question.