How to Grow Peaches in a Greenhouse? The Latest Cultivation Techniques and Methods Tutorial

The peach tree is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the rose family. Its flowers are ornamental, and its fruit is juicy and can be eaten fresh or made into preserved peaches, canned peaches, and the like; the kernel is also edible. There are many varieties; generally the skin is fuzzy, nectarines have smooth skin, flat peaches bear flat disc-shaped fruit, and ornamental peaches are grown for their flowers. It originated in China and is widely cultivated in all provinces and regions. Below, let us take a look at greenhouse peach cultivation techniques!

Cultivation Conditions for Greenhouse Peach Trees

Peach trees prefer plenty of sunlight and grow well in loose soil with a low groundwater table. When planting, it is best to choose high, dry sandy soil or gravelly soil; clay soil with a relatively low groundwater table, high organic matter content, and good drainage can also be used. Peach trees grow quickly and can flower and bear fruit in the second year after planting. Shoot growth is vigorous, with 3 new flushes of shoots possible in a year; secondary shoots can also form flower buds and bear fruit. They enter full bearing age in 4 to 5 years. Because they bear fruit early, the full bearing period can last 10 to 15 years. The tree's lifespan is relatively short, mostly 20 to 25 years.

Cultivation Varieties for Greenhouse Peach Trees

1. Jinhua Large White Peach: Jinhua Large White Peach ripens early, maturing in early June. The fruit is nearly round with a flat top and a single fruit weight of 150 to 350 grams. The skin is white with a red blush on the sunny side, and the flesh is milky white, crisp and fine-textured, soft and juicy, with a sweet fragrance and excellent quality. The fruit does not crack and has no pollen, so a pollinizer variety must be planted.

2. Daguan No. 1: Daguan No. 1 ripens from early to mid-June. The average single fruit weight is 110 grams, with a maximum of 350 grams. The fruit surface has a red blush, the appearance is attractive, and it is extremely productive.

3. Super Early Red Nectarine: Super Early Red Nectarine ripens in early May. The fruit is nearly round with an average single fruit weight of 60 to 80 grams. The fruit surface is smooth and bright red, and the flesh is golden yellow with a pleasant sweet-sour taste. The fruit does not crack and is semi-clingstone. This variety has moderate vigor, good flower bud differentiation, a high fruit-setting rate, and high and stable yields, but it requires flower and fruit thinning.

4. Extremely Early Red Nectarine: Extremely Early Red Nectarine ripens in mid-to-late May. The fruit is nearly round with an average single fruit weight of 100 to 120 grams, and large fruit can reach 150 grams. The fruit surface is smooth and bright red, and the flesh is golden yellow, delicious and juicy, purely sweet with little acidity. The fruit rarely cracks. The tree has strong vigor, good flower bud differentiation, a high fruit-setting rate, and strong disease resistance. In cultivation, shoots should be controlled in time to prevent excessive vigor, and fertilizer and water should be appropriately controlled.

5. Flat Peach No. 2: Flat Peach No. 2 usually ripens in late May. The fruit is flat in shape with an average single fruit weight of 95 to 430 grams and large fruit of 250 grams. The skin is bright red on the sunny side, and the flesh is white, soft and juicy, with a sweet fragrance. The stone is small and the edible rate is high.

Propagation Techniques for Greenhouse Peach Trees

1. Cuttings: Use hardwood cuttings in spring and softwood cuttings during the plum rain season. Cutting wood must be vigorous and well-filled. Spring is the main time for cuttings. Cut the cuttings diagonally at about 20 cm. To prevent disease infection and promote rooting, it is best to dip the lower end of the cuttings quickly in a fungicide, 50% carbendazim at 600 to 1200 times dilution, and use indolebutyric acid at 750 to 4500 mg/L for a quick dip before inserting the cuttings. The plant and row spacing is 4×30 cm, and the insertion depth should preferably be 2/3 of the cutting length.

2. Grafting: Rootstocks for propagation are mostly wild peach or peach seedlings (own-root stock). Both scion grafting and bud grafting have relatively high survival rates. Scion grafting is done in March when the buds have begun to sprout, commonly using cut grafting, and one- or two-year-old seedlings are best for rootstock. Bud grafting is done in July to August, mostly using the “T” shaped graft. One-year-old well-filled seedlings are best for rootstock.

3. Sowing: The flowering period of peach is March to April, and the fruit ripening period is June to August. Harvest ripe fruit, pile and mash it, remove the flesh, dry it, and collect clean seedling seeds for autumn sowing. Before sowing, soak the seeds for 5 to 7 days. Autumn-sown seeds germinate early the following year, with a high emergence rate and rapid, robust growth. For sowing the following spring, the seedling seeds need to be stored in moist sand for more than 120 days. Use drilling; the drill width is 10 cm and the depth is 1 to 2 cm, and after sowing cover with 6 cm of soil. Sow 25 to 30 kg per mu. When the seedlings are 3 cm tall, thin and establish the stand, with a plant spacing of 20 to 25 cm.

Cultivation Techniques for Greenhouse Peach Trees

1. Removing sprouts and pruning: During the bud break period of greenhouse peach trees, promptly remove unwanted sprouts. After flowering, promptly thin out overly dense branches, water sprouts, upright branches, shade-casting branches, and crossing branches as needed. From 4 to 6 weeks before harvest, cut back excessively vigorous fruiting trees, leaving only one new shoot in front of the fruit spur shoot, and partially short-cut some new shoots as appropriate. Adjust the tree structure so that at noon there is preferably uniform dappled shade under the tree.

2. Reasonable canopy control: Keep one vigorously growing new shoot in an appropriate direction on each main branch. When the secondary shoot of the fruit spur growing upward reaches 10 large leaves, repeatedly pinch the growing tip and remove side buds to form a blind branch. For other vigorously growing new shoots, dip the tips in 15% PP333 at 50 times dilution. These measures effectively control excessive vigor, increase per-plant yield, and reduce physiological fruit drop and pre-harvest fruit drop.

3. Leaf removal and branch tying: 20 days before harvest, remove leaves that affect the fruit's exposure to light, and tie drooping branches up to the light-facing side to promote fruit coloring. From 4 to 6 weeks before harvest, use rope to tie up or pull drooping fruiting branches above the canopy, which can greatly improve the tree's light conditions and increase fruit coloring.

4. Promoting fruit set and supplementing fertilizer: Spray once each at flowering and 2 weeks after flowering with LXL fruit-setting agent or fruit-shaping agent containing 1.8% GA4+7 and 1.8% 6-benzyladenine to increase the fruit-setting rate and promote fruit enlargement. About 10 days after peach flowering, spray 2 to 3 times with a mixture of 0.5% urea and 0.2% monopotassium phosphate. Spraying should preferably be done on a windless evening or a cloudy day, once every 2 weeks.

5. Topdressing and watering: In greenhouse peach trees, apply topdressing once each during the pit-hardening stage and the fruit enlargement stage, applying 30 grams of urea and 30 grams of monopotassium phosphate per plant. Water once in combination with each fertilization, with the amount of water depending on soil moisture conditions.