Peach Tree Planting Techniques Tutorial: Detailed Explanation of the Latest Cultivation Methods

The fruit of the peach is juicy and can be eaten fresh or made into preserved peaches, canned peaches, etc. The kernel is also edible. The flesh can be white or yellow. Generally, the most popular varieties in Asia mostly have white flesh, which is juicy and sweet. The peach tree originated in China and is widely cultivated in all provinces and regions. It is now planted all over the world. People in Europe, Australia and North America have historically preferred varieties with yellow flesh that are more sour.

The Growing Environment for Peach Trees

Peach trees have a fairly wide temperature tolerance and can be cultivated where the annual average temperature is between 8 and 17 degrees Celsius. Their most suitable growing temperature is 18 to 23 degrees Celsius, and the suitable temperature during the ripening period is around 25 degrees Celsius. Temperatures that are too low easily cause freezing injury and poor tree growth, while temperatures that are too high easily cause sunscald on the branches and trunk. During the dormant period, peach trees need a period of low temperatures for the peach buds to develop normally; otherwise, it easily leads to uneven sprouting and the death of flower buds.

Peach trees are fruit trees with a very strong light requirement, so when choosing an orchard site, pay attention to selecting a sunny plot. Peach trees like dryness and have poor tolerance to waterlogging. Excessive rain or a relatively long period of high soil moisture easily causes excessive shoot growth, difficulty in flower bud formation, reduced fruit yield and poorer flavor.

Peach trees have a very strong adaptability to soil and can generally be planted in most soils, but they grow better in neutral to slightly acidic soil. When the soil pH is below 4 or above 8, growth is severely affected. In terms of adaptability to soil texture, cultivation is better in sandy loam with good drainage, strong permeability and relatively high fertility, showing earlier fruiting and good quality. If the soil is too fertile or the texture is too clayey, it easily leads to excessive growth, later fruiting, low early yield and poorer quality, with insipid taste and small fruit.

Peach Tree Planting Techniques

Peach trees are generally propagated by grafting, using wild peach rootstock. The seeds are stratified, sown in winter, bud-grafted from June to August or whip-grafted in early spring the following year, and the saplings can leave the nursery by the next winter. The planting spacing between rows and plants is 4m×5m or 3m×4m, with 500-840 plants per hectare. Planting can be done from after leaf fall to before bud break. Peach orchards must not be continuously cropped; otherwise, young trees grow noticeably weaker, leaves lose green color, new roots turn brown and branch excessively, and the trunk and branches exude gum. This phenomenon of intolerance to continuous cropping is more severe in sandy soil or soil with low fertility. The main reason is that the residual roots of the previous crop decompose in the soil and produce toxic substances such as benzaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid, which inhibit and poison the root system. It is also related to the multiplication and accumulation of nematodes in the soil under continuous cropping.

Fertilization Methods for Peach Trees

Peach trees have a short lifespan and bear fruit early. They need relatively little fertilizer during the young tree stage. After entering the full fruiting period, sufficient fertilizer must be supplied.

1. Fertilizer Amount

The suitable fertilization for peach trees and the ratio of the three elements N, P and K should be comprehensively determined according to factors such as variety, tree age, tree vigor, yield, soil fertility and climatic conditions. Young trees grow vigorously, so less nitrogen fertilizer should be applied and more P and K fertilizer should be added, mainly diammonium, to strengthen the branches, promote flower bud formation, advance fruiting and prevent shoot dieback. After fruiting begins, the amount of fertilizer should be increased, and attention should be paid to the combination of N, P and K to maintain a balance between growth and fruiting. As for the specific amount of fertilizer, mature trees need more fertilizer than young trees. Calculated by fruit yield, every 100 jin of fruit requires 0.4-0.5 jin of N, 0.2-0.3 jin of P and 0.5-0.7 jin of K. Usually about 20 jin of human excrement and urine is applied per tree, plus 0.5 jin of diammonium.

2. Fertilization Timing

1) Base fertilizer: it is better to apply it in autumn together with deep plowing. Applying base fertilizer early allows damaged roots to heal relatively quickly and can increase the accumulation of nutrients in the tree before winter. If it must be applied in spring, it should be applied as early as possible, immediately after the soil thaws; otherwise, the fertilizer effect will occur after June and cause excessive growth of new shoots.

2) Topdressing: generally, orchards are topdressed 2-3 times throughout the year, more in the early stage and less in the later stage, mainly with quick-acting fertilizers. Pre-bloom fertilizer is applied after the soil thaws in spring, mainly urea; post-bloom fertilizer is applied after the flowers fall, mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizers; fruit-promoting fertilizer is used to promote fruit enlargement and improve quality, mainly diammonium fertilizer; post-harvest fertilizer replenishes tree consumption, strengthens new shoot tissue and flower buds, and increases stored nutrients in the tree, mainly diammonium fertilizer with a small amount of urea.