Detailed Explanation of Labor-Saving Cultivation Techniques for Zhonghua Shoutao Peach
Zhonghua Shoutao is a natural bud sport of the winter peach within the northern China peach variety group. The fruit is large, with an average single-fruit weight of 350 grams and a maximum of 1000 grams; the typical coloring rate reaches 80%, the quality is good, it is relatively high-yielding, late-maturing, tolerant of storage and transport, and delivers relatively good economic returns. In recent years, with the development of leisure and sightseeing agriculture, Zhonghua Shoutao cultivation has gradually become an efficient specialty industry, with planting area increasing year by year and promising market prospects. Especially in the shallow hilly areas of the Taihang Mountains, where slopes are gentler, the soil layer is thicker, and the temperature difference between day and night is large, fruit quality is good and the area is suitable for Zhonghua Shoutao cultivation. However, because Zhonghua Shoutao matures late, its management techniques are relatively complex, and production costs are relatively high, the planting benefits of this variety have been affected. For this reason, in recent years we have carried out research on labor-saving cultivation techniques for Zhonghua Shoutao in shallow hilly areas, and the summary is as follows.
1. Establish the orchard with wide rows and dense planting for easy management. Planting density should facilitate management and mechanized operations, save labor, and improve work efficiency. Appropriately increase the spacing between plants and rows, using 3 m x 5-6 m.
2. Rationally arrange pollinizer trees to ensure fruit set. Pollinizer trees are arranged at a ratio of 4:1. Pollinizer varieties should produce abundant pollen; varieties such as Xinchuan Zhongdao, Meishuai, and Beijing 14 can be used, and they can significantly increase the fruit-setting rate and save a large amount of labor for artificial pollination.
3. Reduce tree height, adopt long-branch pruning, and reduce other related labor. Use the natural open-center form or Y-shaped tree form. The Y-shaped tree form has good ventilation and light penetration, good fruit quality, and is easy to manage; the tree height is relatively low, about 2.5 m, with the basal angle of the main branches opened to 70 degrees and the waist angle at about 60 degrees, to prevent premature tree decline. Carry out long-branch pruning to moderate tree vigor and reduce the amount of summer pruning. Appropriately shorten slender flowering branches, retract drooping flowering branches, and thin out diseased and weak flowering branches to reduce the workload of flower and fruit thinning.
4. Control excessive tree vigor and reduce the amount of summer pruning. Young Zhonghua Shoutao trees have a large growth volume, and new shoots can produce 2-4 secondary shoots each year, taking shape quickly and bearing early and heavily. However, they are also prone to causing excessive vegetative growth of branches and canopy shading. Using growth-inhibiting hormones such as paclobutrazol and chlormequat can effectively control excessive tree vigor and achieve the goals of canopy control, early fruiting, and high yield. Under the density of 3 m x 5-6 m in shallow hilly areas, when new shoots are 15-20 cm long in May, spraying a 300-fold dilution of paclobutrazol on the trees has a very obvious shoot-control effect and also a good flower-promoting effect, and can significantly reduce the amount of summer pruning.
5. Place bees in the peach orchard to increase the fruit-setting rate. Generally, one box of honeybees is placed per mu; note that pesticides must not be sprayed during the period when bees are released at flowering.
6. Thin flowers in time to reduce the workload of fruit thinning. Peach trees have a large number of flower buds, and flowering and fruit setting consume a large amount of nutrients. If saving nutrients is taken into consideration, flower thinning is more effective than fruit thinning. Thin buds at the bud stage 1 week before flowering; earlier is better than later. Use the thumb and index finger to wipe off flower buds on the upper and lower sides of branches, thinning about 1/3 of the total flowers of the whole tree. For long fruit branches, thin the flower buds at the front and rear and retain the flower buds in the middle; for short fruit branches and bouquet fruit branches, retain the terminal flower buds and remove the rear flower buds.
7. Rational crop load to reduce investment in fruit bagging. Zhonghua Shoutao has a long growth period, is susceptible to damage from various diseases and insect pests, and is prone to fruit cracking and skin wrinkling; at present, fruit bagging cultivation is mostly used. Yield per mu is controlled at about 2000 kg, with large and uniform fruit. Bagging can make the fruit surface smooth and clean, prevent sunburn, promote coloring, and reduce fruit cracking. The bagging time is from early June to mid-June, and insecticide and fungicide are sprayed 5 days before bagging. For fruit bags, wood-pulp paper bags are generally selected, double-layered, gray outside and black inside. After bagging, the young fruit should be located in the center of the bag; remove the bags 10-15 days before harvest, first tearing open the bag opening, and removing the bags after 2 days.
8. Orchard sod culture, straw mulching, or ground fabric covering to reduce labor for weeding. Implementing orchard sod culture or straw mulching can reduce labor for soil tillage and weeding, help conserve soil and water, increase soil organic matter content, enrich the soil, strengthen tree vigor, and improve fruit quality.
In places with relatively high rainfall or better irrigation conditions, orchard sod culture is mainly inter-row sod culture, commonly using white clover, red clover, mouse barley grass, etc. Natural inter-row sod culture can also be used, with regular mowing. In arid areas, orchard straw mulching can be carried out. Orchard straw mulching mainly uses crop straw, with a thickness of 15-20 cm. The first straw mulching in spring should avoid the soil thawing period in February and March, which helps increase soil temperature. After summer harvest and autumn harvest, crop straw should be used promptly for mulching. Before mulching, water first to moisten the soil, level the tree basin, with the trunk area slightly higher; when fertilizing after mulching, separate the straw and apply fertilizer in trenches or holes. After continuous mulching for 3 years, deep plow once in autumn, turn the rotted straw on the surface into the ground, and then mulch again.
Covering the orchard floor with horticultural ground fabric is a newly emerging orchard soil management method in recent years, characterized by a one-time investment and many years of benefit. Covering with horticultural ground fabric can control weeds, reduce soil moisture evaporation, and increase soil humidity. In hilly and mountainous orchards with uneven ground and many stones, it is relatively difficult to implement measures such as plastic film mulching, sod culture, and manual weeding, while laying horticultural ground fabric is relatively easy; it can also avoid direct scouring of the soil by rainwater, reduce soil erosion, and protect the ecological environment. According to research, the investment in horticultural ground fabric covering around the tree basin is 23% of the cost of manual weeding, and the investment in whole-orchard covering is 47% of the cost of manual weeding.
9. Integrated water and fertilizer management to save water, fertilizer, and labor. Shallow hilly areas generally have dry soil and poor fertility. To save water and conserve fertilizer, it is advocated to build water-saving facilities such as drip irrigation, micro-sprinkler irrigation, and small-tube outflow, which can significantly save water and can also apply soluble fertilizer into the peach orchard together with irrigation, realizing integrated water and fertilizer management; this can save 30%-40% of water, 20%-30% of fertilizer, and 50%-60% of labor, and increase fruit yield by 15%-25%. Integrated water and fertilizer facilities require relatively high one-time upfront investment, but one investment can bring benefits for 10 years, saving about 300 yuan per mu per year in various investments, and generally the full investment cost can be recovered in 3-4 years.