Peach Planting Time, Conditions and Techniques: Is the North Suitable for Planting?
The peach is a fruit suitable for canning; its skin is pale yellow, its flesh is fine and soft, its taste is slightly acidic, it is rich in juice, and it stores well. In recent years its cultivation has developed fairly quickly. So what are the planting time, conditions and techniques for peaches? Is the north suitable for planting peaches?
1. What are the planting conditions for peaches? Is the north suitable for planting peaches?
1. Planting conditions for peaches
Creating suitable growing conditions is an important factor in ensuring the effectiveness of high-yield peach cultivation techniques. Suitable growing conditions include creating a suitable growing temperature for peaches; for example, the average annual growing temperature for peaches is generally between 12 and 17°C, and the growing temperature from May to September should be controlled at around 25°C. When the natural environment does not meet these requirements, certain artificial measures must be used to keep the temperature within a suitable range and ensure normal growth.
Soil aeration and drainage must also be ensured; slightly acidic sandy soil is most suitable for peach growth. In addition, attention must be paid to the influence of terrain factors on peach growth; a sunny gentle slope is most favourable for peach growth. All of these can help high-yield peach cultivation techniques achieve the results they should.
2. Peaches can be planted in the north
Peaches can be grown in open fields in North China where the lowest winter temperature does not drop below minus 15°C (such as Shandong, Henan and other places). In areas where the temperature frequently falls below this, cold protection measures must be taken in winter when planting peaches (whitewashing the trunk, mounding soil around the tree base, etc.). In addition, peaches do not tolerate long-distance transport, so it is best to plant them in the suburbs of cities (or in places with convenient transport).
2. Peach planting time
1. Planting time: mid-to-late October to mid-to-late January of the following year.
2. Planting density: 111 plants (3m×2m)
3. Planting method: Before planting, determine the planting points according to the planting method and row spacing, then dig planting holes 80cm deep and 80cm wide at the planting points. At planting, apply at least 50 kg of rubbish or barnyard manure per plant. After planting, immediately water thoroughly to settle the roots, and once the water has seeped down, backfill soil level with the ground.
3. Peach planting techniques
1. Fertiliser and water management
(1) Bud-break fertiliser: apply in early-to-mid February, accounting for 10% of the annual fertiliser amount; use quick-acting fertiliser plus clean water irrigation. If the flower buds are plump, watering alone is sufficient.
(2) Fruit-swelling fertiliser: apply in mid-May, accounting for 30% of the annual fertiliser amount. Note that potassium sulfate compound fertiliser plus manure water should be applied.
(3) Post-harvest fertiliser: apply after harvest in late August, accounting for more than 60% of the fertiliser amount; mainly slow-release organic fertiliser, applied together with N, P and K urea. The amount applied per plant must not be less than 1.5 kg. This promotes flower bud differentiation and restores tree vigour, and is the most important fertilisation of the year.
2. Training and pruning
The natural open-centre form of the peach tree is a low-trunk, low-canopy, quick-to-form high-yielding tree shape. Its trunk height is 30-50cm, and the spacing between the three main branches is 10-15cm. On the outer side of each main branch, 2-3 side branches are arranged on the left and right, giving 6-8 side branches in total. This tree shape can address the low light levels in southern regions, increasing the light-receiving area and meeting the needs of fruit growth and development.
3. Fruit thinning and bagging
The peach tree is a fruit tree that produces many flowers and many fruits. If every flower were allowed to set fruit, it would inevitably cause tree decline and poor fruit quality. To ensure high and stable yields and excellent quality in peach trees, thin in late April, when the fruits are already the size of a small plum: remove insect-damaged, diseased and misshapen fruits, and remove one of each pair of twin fruits, keeping one. By the time of thinning, fruits that have not kept up with the general size should be thinned out.
Bagging can prevent pests, diseases and birds and animals from damaging the fruit, reduce the number of pesticide applications, lower production costs, prevent mechanical damage, keep the fruit surface clean and attractive, and improve fruit quality and the edible portion.
Bagging generally starts after 1 May and ends before 10 May. Any fruit not bagged by this time should be given one extra pesticide spray, because mid-May is the peak egg-laying period for the peach fruit moth.
4. Pest and disease control
After winter pruning is completed, the orchard should be cleaned up, and dead branches and fallen leaves collected and burned. Drainage ditches should be dug before the rainy season arrives. Chemical control is most effective when applied before bud break or when the leaf buds have just turned green.
5. Fruit harvesting
The flavour of peaches only develops when they are fully ripe on the tree, so they must not be harvested early. Yellow peaches for canning, firm-fleshed peaches for fresh eating, and peaches that need long-distance transport can be harvested at the firm-ripe stage. For fresh consumption near the production area, harvest at the full-ripe stage, when the fruit is pale white, milky white or pale yellow, with a red blush or red spots on the sunny side, the fruit is fully enlarged, the skin peels away, the soluble solids in the flesh increase sharply, and the variety's characteristic colour and aroma are expressed.