The Latest Honey Peach Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

The honey peach is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the rose family (Rosaceae), with very high cultivation value; the tree is generally 3-4 m tall, begins bearing fruit early, starting to fruit 2-3 years after planting, reaches full fruiting at 6-7 years, gradually ages after 15-20 years, and has a relatively short lifespan, with the better ones still maintaining high yields at 25-30 years. Let us take a look together at the planting techniques for honey peaches!

Seedling Selection

When selecting varieties to plant, honey peach growers must take into account the local soil, climate, management level and local market conditions, choose excellent varieties with good yielding performance and good market demand, and ensure a good mix of early-, mid- and late-maturing varieties. At present, the varieties with the widest cultivation area are Fenghuang and Lianhuang, which have good yielding performance and are easy to cultivate and manage.

Planting and Fertilization

For honey peaches, choose well-drained, deep soil with a pH of 5.5-6.5, slightly acidic sandy loam or gravelly loam, and dig large planting holes for establishment; on low hilly slopes, terraces should be built. Plant 40-50 trees per mu on flat land and 50-60 trees per mu on hillsides. For base fertilizer, honey peaches are best given winter fertilizer applied in autumn, mainly organic fertilizer, accounting for 60-70% of the annual fertilizer amount; generally apply 2000 kg of barnyard manure per mu or 150 kg of special fruit-tree fertilizer per mu. The number of topdressings, their timing and amounts vary according to variety, tree age, cultivation management method, growth and development stage, and external conditions, but generally consist mainly of pre-bud fertilizer, fruit-swelling fertilizer and post-harvest fertilizer.

Tree Shape Training

The tree shape of the honey peach is the three-main-branch natural open-center form. For the tree structure, the height of a mature tree is maintained at about 2.5-3 m, the trunk height is 30-40 cm, and there are 3 main branches, each occupying a 120-degree azimuth angle; each main branch is paired with 1-2 secondary branches, with an opening angle of about 75 degrees. In the year of planting, head the tree at 50-60 cm, and there must be more than 3 vigorous buds within the training zone below the cut. In the first year of growth after planting, select and retain new shoots with relatively strong growth and good azimuth angles, and train them as main branches; the remaining new shoots can be thinned out or twisted into auxiliary nutrient branches. In the second year after planting, select strong lateral branches at 50-60 cm from the trunk with good opening angles and train them as secondary branches, and at the same time train large and small fruiting branch groups on the main and secondary branches.

Tree Pruning

Dormant-season pruning of honey peaches can be carried out from leaf fall to before bud break; pruning combines heading back with thinning, as well as long cane leaving, renewal pruning and branch bending. Long fruiting branches are cut back by about one third of their length; medium fruiting branches are generally not headed back except for thinning out crowded branches; short fruiting branches should retain 1 branch at intervals of about 10 cm. Growth-season pruning mainly includes post-flowering follow-up pruning, removal of sprouts and buds, branch thinning, branch twisting, pinching, branch pulling, shoot tipping and branch repositioning.

Pest and Disease Control

For pest and disease control in honey peaches, first do a good job of winter orchard cleanup; together with winter pruning, promptly remove diseased branches and leaves; around the Start of Winter, whitewash the trunks; before bud break in early spring, spray 5-degree Baume lime-sulfur mixture; and during the growing season, control diseases such as brown rot, anthracnose, scab and leaf curl. Pests harming peach trees include aphids, oriental fruit moths, small green leafhoppers, peach fruit borers, stinging moths, lace bugs and white peach scales; spray promptly according to occurrence conditions.

Fruit Management

Honey peaches have a high fruit set rate, so fruit thinning is necessary to control the number of fruits retained. Fruit thinning should be done in 2 rounds, respectively from late April to early May and from mid-to-late May; generally short fruiting branches retain 1 fruit, medium fruiting branches retain 2 fruits, and long fruiting branches retain 3-5 fruits. After the final fruit set, spray and bag promptly. The harvest period depends on the characteristics of the variety, and it is advisable to harvest fruits at 80% ripeness.