Peach Pit Seeds: Latest Prices and a Detailed Guide to Planting Methods

The peach is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to China, with a great many cultivated varieties grown widely across the country; its flowers are ornamental, and its fruit can be eaten fresh or made into dried peaches, canned peaches and the like, long praised as the “peach of longevity” and the “peach of the immortals,” and its kernel is edible too. Below, let us take a look together at peach pit seed prices and planting methods!

How much is a jin of peach pit seeds?

The price of peach pit seeds is about 10 to 15 yuan per jin, but prices vary considerably depending on seed quality, variety, market and season. The peach tree is native to China and widely cultivated across the country, with a great many variants; the more important variants include the nectarine, flat peach, Shouxing peach and ornamental peach, among which the nectarine and flat peach are grown as fruit trees while the Shouxing peach and ornamental peach are mainly for ornamental use. In production, grafting is the main method of propagation, though sowing, cuttings and layering can also be used; for sowing propagation, the seeding rate is 25 to 30 kg per mu.

Sowing methods for peach trees

After the peaches ripen, harvest the fruit, pile them up and mash them, remove the flesh, and dry them to collect clean seedling seeds for autumn sowing; soak the seeds for 5 to 7 days before sowing. Autumn-sown seeds sprout early the following year, with a high emergence rate and rapid, vigorous growth. For sowing the following spring, the seedling seeds need to be stored in damp sand for more than 120 days; use drilling, with rows 10 cm wide and 1 to 2 cm deep, cover with 6 cm of soil after sowing, and when the seedlings are 3 cm tall, thin and set them at a spacing of 20 to 25 cm.

Planting methods for peach trees

1. Site selection: Peach trees are not strict about soil, but a well-drained, loose sandy loam is preferable, with a south-facing slope being best; however, continuous cropping is taboo, meaning land where peaches have already been planted cannot be planted with peaches again.

2. Deep plowing and soil improvement: Before planting, peach trees must undergo deep plowing and soil improvement; sloping land should be terraced and the soil layer thickened, then planting holes or planting trenches dug according to the spacing between plants and rows; flat areas and clayey soil must also be improved.

3. Planting time: Peach trees can be planted in both spring and autumn, but autumn planting is best; in autumn the temperature is high and there is plenty of rain, the roots recover easily after damage, the seedling establishment period can be shortened the following year, and sprouting is uniform. Planting from October to December is relatively appropriate.

4. Planting density: The planting density of peach trees should be determined by variety characteristics, terrain, soil conditions, training system and cultivation method; generally the spacing between plants and rows is 3×4 m or 3×3 m, with about 56 or 74 plants per mu.

5. Planting method: Before planting peach trees, trim the damaged roots and any overly large main roots, then set the plant upright, straighten out the root system, cover with 5 to 10 cm of soil, firm it with your foot, then irrigate thoroughly; after the water has seeped in, cover with a layer of fine soil, and a layer of grass may also be added.

Pest and disease control for peach trees

1. Peach leaf curl

[Damage characteristics] Peach leaf curl mainly damages leaves, young shoots and young fruit.

[Control methods] ① In spring, when the peach buds are swelling but not yet bursting, spray with 5 degrees Baumé lime-sulfur mixture or 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture. ② After diseased leaves are found, remove and burn them promptly before the ascus layer forms.

2. Peach scab

[Damage characteristics] Peach scab mainly damages the fruit, and can also damage shoots and leaves. When the fruit is first affected, dark green round spots appear on the fruit surface, which then gradually enlarge.

[Control methods] ① Before sprouting, spray 5 degrees Baumé lime-sulfur mixture to eliminate or reduce overwintering inoculum on the shoots; from half a month after petal fall until June, spray 0.2 to 0.4 degrees Baumé lime-sulfur mixture every half month. ② In winter, in conjunction with pruning, remove diseased branches, or eliminate and reduce the overwintering sources of disease.

3. Peach anthracnose

[Damage characteristics] Young fruit affected by the disease turns dark brown, its development stalls, and it shrivels and hardens. When slightly larger fruit is affected, dark green water-soaked spots first appear on the fruit surface, then expand and become sunken and dark brown.

[Control methods] ① In winter, in conjunction with pruning, clear away diseased branches and fruit to reduce the sources of disease. ② Before sprouting, spray 5° Baumé lime-sulfur mixture; from the time the fruit is the size of a bean, spray a 600-fold organic sulfur preparation, or a 1000-fold 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder.

4. Peach tree rot

[Damage characteristics] Peach tree rot mainly damages the trunk and large branches, causing tree death; when the disease is severe, gum flows all over the body, the bark tissue rots, is moist and smells of distillers' grains, then shrinks and dries, covered densely with small black dots.

[Control methods] ① Build up tree vigor and strengthen fertilizer and water management. ② Promptly scrape off diseased patches down to the xylem, then apply 40% asomate or 50% tecloftalam after scraping. ③ Promptly burn diseased and dead branches sawed off each year; they must not be piled near the orchard.

5. Peach gummosis

[Damage characteristics] Peach gummosis is an important disease of branches and trunks; in spring and summer, on the current year's new shoots, with the lenticels as the center, variously sized raised lesions occur that exude colorless, translucent soft gum; in severe cases the bark splits, the branches and trunk die, and the tree declines.

[Control methods] ① Strengthen soil improvement, apply more organic fertilizer, and protect the branches and trunk. ② First scrape off the gummosis sites on the tree, then apply 5 degrees Baumé lime-sulfur mixture or quicklime powder, and after 1 to 2 days brush on a 20- to 30-fold 70% thiophanate-methyl or 50% carbendazim solution.