Latest Peach Tree Pruning Techniques, Methods and Tutorial Highlights

Peach is a fruit we very much enjoy eating, and it comes in many different varieties, with a wide planting area in our country. Now that winter has arrived, peach trees also need proper pruning to prepare for overwintering. However, many people have not mastered a correct pruning technique, which instead affects the growth of the peach tree after pruning. So how exactly should peach trees be pruned? Below, the editor brings you the key points of peach tree pruning techniques. Let's take a look!

1. Long-shoot pruning

When pruning, pay attention to the age and growth stage of the peach tree. For shoots that have grown within one year, heavy pruning should not be carried out; appropriate thinning and leaving them unpruned (laying them out) is sufficient. After pruning, the sprouting ability and shoot growth capacity of the branches will be strengthened, although the overall vigor will still be somewhat reduced. However, their growth volume is large and nutrients are relatively dispersed, which can promote flower bud differentiation, flowering and fruiting, etc. Therefore, for vigorous trees and young trees, light pruning should be the main approach, to advance the time of fruiting, moderate the vigor, and promote the growth of the peach tree.

2. Heading back (short cutting)

Heading back has four types, including heavy heading back and medium heading back, and the main target of pruning is also shoots that have grown within one year, cutting off about 1/3 of them to improve the nutrient absorption of the branches and enhance growth capacity and the vigor of new shoots. Heading back is mainly used on fruit trees with many branches and strong competition. Through heading back, competition among branches can be reduced, extremes can be prevented, and fruiting mother branches can be directly cultivated on the main trunk.

3. Thinning

Thinning means completely cutting off peach tree branches from their base, with the purpose of preventing too many branches from affecting light absorption, reducing the tree's ventilation and light penetration, and affecting growth. It ensures that branches are both sparse and dense, distributed evenly on the peach tree. It can also improve at least the growth capacity and promote flower bud differentiation in the peach tree. The main targets of thinning are overly long, overly dense, overlapping branches, and branches with pests and diseases on the peach tree.

4. Bud removal

After new buds sprout on the peach tree, excess new buds on the branches and shoots should be removed, mainly water sprouts and competing clustered buds. Usually when removing buds from double branches, half are removed, and then the growth direction is appropriately adjusted during shaping. Bud removal on young trees should follow the standard of keeping the strong and removing the weak. Bud removal can prevent the growth of too many useless branches, reduce nutrient consumption, increase the light-receiving area of peach tree branches, and also prevent wounds from being too large, which could lead to infection and cause pests and diseases.

5. Pinching (tipping)

Pinching is mainly to inhibit the growth of new shoots, control the speed of vegetative growth, and promote subsequent new branch growth of the peach tree. It is usually used in the shaping of young trees and the tissue culture of mature trees. When pinching, do not pinch the lignified part, otherwise it will affect the growth of the peach tree and easily cause gummosis and other diseases. Therefore, in order to prevent the branches from becoming fully lignified, we should begin pinching when the new shoots grow to about 25 cm.

The above is a brief introduction to the key points of peach tree pruning techniques; there are still many methods for pruning peach trees. For example, branch bending and renewal pruning, etc., are all carried out for the healthy growth of the peach tree. Also, after pruning, we should properly treat the pruning wounds. If they cannot heal quickly, they may become infected, affecting the growth of the peach tree and even causing death in severe cases. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and your support.