Latest Prices for Mountain Peach Seeds and a Guide to Growing Them

Mountain peach, also known as mountain wild peach, wild peach, ornamental peach, etc., is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family. It often grows on hillsides, at the bottoms of valley gullies, or in sparse wild forests and thickets. In production it is mainly used as a rootstock for fruit trees such as peach, plum and apricot, and it can also be grown for ornamental purposes. Its wood can be used for various fine woodwork and walking sticks, its pits can be made into toys or prayer beads, and its kernels can be pressed for edible oil. Now let us take a look together at the price of mountain peach seeds and how to grow them!

How much does a jin of mountain peach seeds cost?

The price of mountain peach seeds is about 6 to 10 yuan per jin, but prices vary depending on seed quality, variety, place of origin and the market. Many mountain peaches have a high self-fruitfulness rate and their offspring show little variation, so many old production areas retain the habit of propagating them from seed. However, large-scale commercial cultivation requires highly marketable yields; if seedling propagation is still used, varieties often become mixed and yield and quality become inconsistent, seriously affecting orchard management and returns. Therefore, graft propagation is still preferable in commercial cultivation.

Sowing methods for mountain peach

1. Choosing the seedling bed: The seedling bed for mountain peach should preferably be level, well-drained and fairly fertile sandy loam or light loam, and should also have irrigation available. Avoid soil that is too heavy or low-lying and prone to waterlogging, and do not choose a spot facing the wind.

2. Land preparation and fertilizing: The seedling bed for mountain peach should be deep-plowed and finely harrowed. Usually autumn plowing is used, to a depth of about 25 cm, and together with the autumn deep plowing, 2500 to 5000 kg of barnyard manure per mu is applied, turned into the soil, and then the ground is harrowed and leveled.

3. Seed disinfection: Mountain peach seeds contain many empty grains, so first conduct water selection and remove the empty grains that float up. Then soak the seeds in a 0.3 to 0.5% copper sulfate solution for 1 to 2 hours, or in a 0.5% potassium permanganate solution for 2 hours, to disinfect the seeds.

4. Stratification and sprouting: Before sowing mountain peach, it is best to carry out sprouting treatment so the seeds germinate quickly and evenly. The commonly used methods are mixing with snow and burying, mixing with sand for sprouting, and soaking in warm water for sprouting. Once sprouting is complete, the seeds can be sown.

5. Sowing time: Because climate conditions differ from place to place, the sowing time for mountain peach also differs. Sow early at the appropriate time according to local climate conditions. For example, in North China it is mid to late March, in the Northwest it is late March to early April, while in the Northeast mid to late April is best.

6. Sowing method: When sowing mountain peach, to ensure seedling yield and quality, the sowing rate should not be too low. When seed purity is above 90% and the germination rate is above 85%, a sowing rate of about 10 kg per mu is appropriate.

7. Management after sowing: Seeds given sprouting treatment begin to germinate and emerge about 10 days after sowing, and about 20 days is the peak emergence period. To help the seeds germinate and emerge, keep the soil in the seed layer moist at all times, and be sure to water thoroughly before sowing.

Growing methods for mountain peach

1. Planting method: The planting spacing for mountain peach is 4×5 m or 3×4 m, with 500 to 840 trees per hectare. Planting can be done anytime from leaf fall to before bud break. Do not plant continuously on the same land, otherwise young trees will clearly weaken, leaves will lose their green color, new roots will turn brown and branch excessively, and the trunk and branches will exude gum.

2. Rational fertilizing: The approximate ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium required by mountain peach is 1:0.5:1. For young trees, take care to control nitrogen fertilizer, otherwise excessive vegetative growth is easily caused. After the full bearing period, increase nitrogen fertilizer to strengthen the trees.

① Base fertilizer: For mountain peach, base fertilizer is best applied in autumn together with deep plowing. If it must be applied in spring, apply it as early as possible, immediately after the soil thaws, otherwise its effect will appear after June and cause excessive new shoot growth.

② Topdressing: Mountain peach is generally topdressed 2 to 3 times a year, mainly with quick-acting fertilizers. The pre-bloom fertilizer is mainly urea, the post-bloom fertilizer is mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, the fruit-swelling fertilizer is mainly diammonium fertilizer, and the post-harvest fertilizer is mainly diammonium fertilizer with a small amount of urea.

3. Tree pruning: Mountain peach has strong growth vigor but a relatively short life, and both its budding ability and branching ability are very strong, so it readily produces second and third order secondary shoots. Improper pruning will lead to poor fruiting, so open-center tree shapes without a central leader are mostly used for training and pruning.

① Pruning in the young tree stage: When training and pruning young trees, make full use of their vigorous growth, strong budding and branching ability, the ability of early-maturing buds on vigorous shoots to form multiple secondary shoots, and the early formation of flower buds. On the one hand, expand the canopy; on the other hand, develop strong scaffold branches.

② Pruning in the full bearing period: The main role of pruning in the full bearing period is to regulate the relationship between growth and fruiting. The pruning method is to cut back heavily on the middle and lower parts of the tree or fruiting branch groups, leaving 3 to 5 nodes or 1 to 2 nodes depending on branch vigor, to stimulate new shoots and form fruiting branches for the next year.

③ Pruning during the growing season: After buds sprout from late April to early May, select and keep one vigorous shoot at positions where branches are needed. From early May to early June, according to growth vigor, thickness and position, remove competing branches, thin and weak branches, densely growing branches and drooping branches.