Detailed Explanation of Ornamental Peach Propagation Methods and Cultivation Management Techniques
Do you know where the biggest difference between ornamental peaches and edible fruit peaches lies? Many friends blurt out that the difference is being edible versus inedible, and of course that is certainly true, but ornamental peaches have larger flowers, more beautiful petals, and stronger ornamental value. Below, the editor of Huinong Network will take everyone to learn about ornamental peach propagation and pest and disease control potted techniques.
1. Variety Characteristics
Based on flower type, they can be divided into five categories: single-petal type; plum-blossom type; China rose type; peony type; chrysanthemum type.
2. Propagation Methods
Ornamental peach propagation is mainly by grafting.
2.1 Cleft Grafting
Also called branch grafting, carried out before spring sprouting. The scion uses vigorous, plump branches from the previous year's growth. The rootstock should be about 1.2 cm thick. Cut off the branches above ground, split a small slit from the middle of the rootstock, cut the lower end of the ornamental peach scion into a slant with a sharp knife so that it fits with the rootstock slit, then tie it firmly with plastic string, cover with a mound of soil, and protect it from wind and sunlight. Growth can resume in about one month.
2.2 Bud Grafting
This is the most commonly used propagation method for peaches, carried out from May to August each year. The rootstock should be smooth and thick.
For successfully grafted plants, promptly remove new buds sprouting from the rootstock and cut off branches on the rootstock. For bud-grafted plants, when the grafted bud has grown a shoot of about 10 cm, cut the rootstock off 1.5-2 cm above the grafted bud. These measures are all to prevent branches on the rootstock from dispersing nutrients and to promote the growth of the scion.
3. Cultivation Management
Ornamental peaches are mainly distributed in the North China, Central China, and Southwest China regions. They prefer warm, humid, and sunny environments, are cold-tolerant, but fear waterlogging.
3.1 Field Planting Management
Field-planted ornamental peaches can be planted in sunny, well-ventilated locations, but should not be planted under trees with larger canopies, to avoid affecting ventilation and light penetration, nor should they be planted in low-lying waterlogged areas, to avoid root rot caused by standing water.
(1) Transplanting: Ornamental peaches are transplanted with a soil ball in early spring or after leaf fall in autumn.
(2) Watering: Field-planted ornamental peaches only need one watering of thawing water in early spring and one watering of freezing water in late autumn each year.
(3) Fertilizing: Ornamental peaches generally receive one application of decomposed organic fertilizer before and after flowering and one after autumn. If 1-2 applications of quick-acting phosphorus and potassium fertilizer are added in June-July, it can promote flower bud formation.
(4) Pruning: For mature ornamental peaches, the main purpose of pruning is to control plant height, maintain beautiful tree shape, suppress apical dominance, promote the growth of lower branches and flower bud formation, and enable balanced plant growth.
3.2 Potted Management
For potted ornamental peaches, it is advisable to choose varieties such as Shouxing Bitao with short plants, short internodes, compact canopy, and graceful shape. Pot them after leaf fall in autumn or before flowering in spring. The potting soil can be a mix of 1 part leaf mold soil, 1 part garden soil, and 1 part river sand, with a small amount of composted cake fertilizer, bone meal, or superphosphate mixed in as base fertilizer.
3.3 Flowering Period Control
In northern regions, the natural flowering period of ornamental peaches is March to April. If you need to force flowering of potted ornamental peaches, the method is: after leaf fall, place them in a low-temperature environment of about 7°C. 40-45 days before Spring Festival, move them indoors, first give a room temperature of 5-10°C, then gradually raise the temperature to 20-25°C. Be careful to sprinkle water on the flowering branches every day to prevent the branches from drying out and wilting, and to promote flower bud opening. If the flower buds crack open and show color ahead of time, promptly move them to a low-temperature room of about 15°C. In this way, the flowering time of the plant can be effectively delayed.
4. Pest and Disease Control
Ornamental peaches have relatively weak disease resistance. The main diseases that easily occur include brown spot disease, leaf curl disease, and trunk gummosis, all caused by fungal infection. They can be prevented and controlled by spraying 600-700 times diluted chlorothalonil or carbendazim solution. When spraying, be careful to spray both the front and back of the leaves.
The insect pests of ornamental peaches include aphids, scale insects, red spiders, stinging moths (commonly known as "yanglazi"), and leaf-rolling moths, which can be killed with relevant pesticides. However, note that dimethoate should not be used on ornamental peaches, otherwise it will cause phytotoxicity, resulting in yellowing and falling leaves. For borers such as longhorn beetles that damage the trunk, comprehensive control methods are used: use light traps to kill adults; cut off infested branches; inject 50-100 times diluted trichlorfon solution into the insect holes, or use medicated mud or poison sticks to plug the insect holes for control.
The above is all the content on ornamental peach propagation and pest and disease control potted techniques. If you also want to cultivate ornamental peaches, then come to Huinong Network first to learn the relevant techniques!
Ornamental Peach Cultivation and Management Techniques
I. Basic Morphology
Ornamental peach is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family, and can be divided into two major lines: the mountain peach line, which is the result of hybridization between peach and apricot or between peach and mountain peach; and the true peach line, which is pure peach. The two major lines are further divided into five types. Except for the white mountain peach type, which belongs to the mountain peach line, the broom peach type, Shouxing peach type, weeping peach type, and upright branch peach type all belong to the true peach line. The flower shapes of ornamental peaches can be divided into 5 types: single-petal type, with 5 petals and a relatively flat flower shape; plum-blossom type, with 20 to 25 petals and a flower shape like plum blossom; China rose type, where after the flower opens, the outer ring of petals curls outward and the inner ring of petals wraps inward, like a small China rose; peony type, with more than 40 petals, the whole flower like a flower ball, quite like a peony; chrysanthemum type, with thin and numerous petals, resembling a chrysanthemum in appearance. Among ornamental peaches, the most commonly cultivated and richest in varieties is Bitao. Bitao (Prunus persica f. duplex), also called flower peach or thousand-petal peach, is the general term for double-petaled and semi-double-petaled ornamental peach types. The plant height is about 8 m, and after shaping it can be controlled at 3 to 4 m, or even shorter. The small branches are reddish-brown or greenish-brown, hairless; the buds have gray soft hairs; the leaves are elliptical-lanceolate, 7 to 10 cm long, with acuminate tips and fine serrations along the edges, with glands on the petioles, and the leaf color is purple-red in addition to ordinary green. Flowers are solitary or 2 born in leaf axils, opening at the same time as the leaves or slightly earlier than the leaves. The flower colors are delicate and gorgeous, including white, pink, scarlet, deep red, purple-red, and other colors. Some varieties can even produce flowers of different colors on the same plant, the so-called "jumping-branch peach," and even a single flower can have spots or streaks of two different colors, called "sajin Bitao."
There are many varieties of Bitao, commonly seen ones include Sajin Bitao, Shouxing Bitao, weeping Bitao, red-flowered Bitao, purple-leaf Bitao, pagoda-shaped Bitao, white-flowered Bitao, thousand-petal Bitao, two-colored Bitao, five-colored Bitao, Renmian Tao, and others. The flowering period of ornamental peaches varies by region. In warmer regions such as Guangdong and Guangxi, they can bloom around Spring Festival, or even earlier, while in colder northern regions they do not bloom until April to May.
II. Cultivation Methods
Ornamental peach cultivation is mainly by grafting. One-year-old seedlings of wild peach, mountain peach, or apricot can be used as rootstock, or one-year-old branches sprouting from old peach tree stumps grown for many years can also be used as rootstock. The scion uses branches or buds of superior ornamental peach varieties. To increase ornamental value, different varieties of ornamental peaches can also be grafted onto one plant, causing it to produce flowers of different colors and flower shapes.
1. Cleft grafting, also called branch grafting, is carried out before spring sprouting. The scion uses vigorous, plump branches from the previous year's growth. The rootstock should be about 1.2 cm thick. Cut off the branches above ground, split a small slit from the middle of the rootstock, cut the lower end of the ornamental peach scion into a slant with a sharp knife so that it fits with the rootstock slit, then tie it firmly with plastic string, cover with a mound of soil, and protect it from wind and sunlight. Growth can resume in about one month.
2. Bud grafting. This is the most commonly used cultivation method for peaches, carried out from May to August each year. The rootstock should be smooth and thick, with a diameter of about 1.5 cm; select buds from the middle section of fully developed current-year branches of superior peach varieties as scions. When selecting graft buds, choose relatively pointed leaf buds, because only such buds can smoothly sprout shoots after grafting and survival, while those that are round, plump, and covered with more white silky hairs are flower buds and cannot be used.
When grafting, first make cuts above and below the scion bud with a sharp knife, then make two vertical cuts on the back of the bud, and forcefully lift out a 0.3 cm thick piece of bark, called the "pattern"; then according to the size of the "pattern," at the strong bud site on the rootstock, similarly remove a bud piece, and then fit the bud piece from the scion onto it; alternatively, cut the bud on the scion into a "T" shape and also cut a "T"-shaped incision on the rootstock, insert the graft bud into the incision so that they fit each other. Finally, tie it well from top to bottom with hemp or plastic string, exposing only the petiole and bud. The tying should not be too tight, to avoid damaging the bud piece. If after 10 days the bud color remains unchanged, it indicates survival. 3. Management after grafting. For successfully grafted plants, promptly remove new buds sprouting from the rootstock and cut off branches on the rootstock. For bud-grafted plants, when the grafted bud has grown a shoot of about 10 cm, cut the rootstock off 1.5 to 2 cm above the grafted bud. These measures are all to prevent branches on the rootstock from dispersing nutrients and to promote the growth of the scion.
III. Cultivation Management. Ornamental peach originated in China
and is distributed in the provinces of North China, Central China, and Southwest China, and has been introduced and cultivated in countries around the world. Ornamental peach prefers warm, humid, and sunny environments, is cold-tolerant, but fears waterlogging. It is suitable for growing in loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil, and avoids alkaline soil and heavy clay soil. Field planting. Field-planted ornamental peaches can be planted in sunny, well-ventilated locations. They can be planted on embankments, sunny slopes, lawns, green belts along roadsides, as well as in residential communities and courtyards, but should not be planted under trees with larger canopies, to avoid affecting ventilation and light penetration, nor should they be planted in low-lying waterlogged areas, to avoid root rot caused by standing water.
1. Transplanting. Ornamental peaches are transplanted with a soil ball in early spring or after leaf fall in autumn. For young trees, the soil ball may be omitted, but the roots should be coated with mud slurry. When transplanting large trees, a soil ball must be used to increase the survival rate. The planting hole should be dug slightly larger, and sufficient decomposed farmyard manure, cake fertilizer, and other base fertilizers should be applied, followed by one thorough watering after planting. For peach trees with larger canopies, a support frame should be used after planting to secure them, to prevent the plant from swaying back and forth in strong winds, which would adversely affect subsequent survival and growth.
2. Watering. Field-planted ornamental peaches only need one watering of thawing water in early spring and one watering of freezing water in late autumn each year.
Cultivation Management of Potted Peaches
1 Morphological Characteristics
Peach, also called flower peach, belongs to the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree or shrub, generally 2-4 m tall, with dwarf types only 50-100 cm. The old trunk is grayish-brown with peeling horizontal striations, and the small branches are green with red spot patterns. Leaves are alternate and broadly lanceolate. Axillary flowers are solitary or clustered, with single or double petals. Flowers are bisexual, in colors such as white, pink, and red, with a flower diameter of about 4 cm. The fruit is a drupe. The flowering period is March-May, and the fruit ripens in July-August.
2 Biological Characteristics
It prefers warmth and sunlight, is relatively cold-tolerant, and has no strict requirements for soil. It has strong growth vigor and can sprout branches multiple times a year, forming spring shoots, summer shoots, and autumn shoots, all of which can form flower buds. The flower buds on spring shoots and summer shoots are relatively plump and full. Flower bud differentiation begins in mid-June and basically ends in early October, but the completion of all flower organs must go through a low-temperature stage, namely the dormant period.
3 Common Horticultural Cultivated Varieties
China has a long history of peach cultivation, with about 1,000 or more peach varieties. According to the ornamental value of flowers and leaves and fruit quality, they can be divided into ornamental peaches - flower peaches, and edible peaches - fruit peaches. Fruit peaches are mostly cultivated varieties used for production, while flower peaches are ornamental varieties, mostly double-petaled and bearing few fruits. Those usually used for potting are ornamental peaches. Relatively famous ornamental varieties include: Bitao, chrysanthemum peach, jiangtao, Renmian Tao, Hongyu Chuizhi, Hongshouxing, and others.
4 Cultivation Methods
Although fruit peaches can be cultivated by sowing, the flowers are highly variable; while flower peaches bear few fruits, so wild peach is mostly used as rootstock and grafting is carried out in spring. It can be divided into bud grafting and branch grafting. Bud grafting is best carried out in mid-to-late August. The buds are taken from branches with young leaves; if there are no new leaves, it is not easy to peel the buds. After grafting, the joint should be tied tightly to prevent rainwater from entering; branch grafting is mostly carried out in late March before buds sprout.
5 Key Cultivation Points
5.1 Planting. For potting, usually choose a flower pot with an upper diameter of 40-50 cm. The growing medium can be prepared with 2 parts leaf mold soil, 1 part garden soil, and 1 part fine sand. Then apply an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer or phosphorus and potassium fertilizer as base fertilizer, and fully disinfect before use. When potting, do not bury the plant too deep; the original depth is appropriate.
5.2 Water and Fertilizer. Newly potted plants should be given one thorough watering, after which keeping the soil moist is sufficient. When new shoots grow to about 3 cm, begin applying a nitrogen-based complete-element liquid fertilizer once every half month. After flower buds appear, apply phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer until flowering. After flowering, promptly apply nitrogen fertilizer. During flower bud differentiation, appropriately add phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and control water.
5.3 Shaping and Pruning. Pruning is very important for peaches. It can not only shape the tree form, adjust tree vigor, and improve ventilation and light conditions within the tree, but also suppress excessive growth and promote flower bud differentiation. For potted peaches, usually choose a spindle shape with a main trunk and rarely use the open-center shape. Peaches have the characteristic that flowering parts shift outward year by year, so renewal pruning is usually adopted for shaping and pruning. Peaches bloom in spring, so the focus is on pruning after flowering. After flowering, promptly shorten the flowering branches by leaving 2-4 buds at the base. After shortening, many adventitious buds will sprout near the cut. When the buds grow to 1 cm, select 4-5 buds with suitable direction, slightly staggered height, and robust growth, and remove the excess buds. When the retained buds grow to 2-3 cm, according to the strength of tree vigor and branch distribution, retain 1-3 buds at each cut to become the main flowering branches of the second year. When the retained branches exceed 30 cm, if the terminal bud still continues to grow, then pinch once. After the first pinching, 2 branches often sprout at the top. When the branches grow to 20-30 cm, if they still have not entered summer dormancy, then pinch again to suppress vegetative growth. Throughout the growing season, pinching can be carried out 2-3 times until winter dormancy, and in early December move them into a cold room. During the dormant period, winter pruning should be carried out. In addition to cutting off pest-damaged branches, weak branches, drooping branches, upright branches, and interfering branches, cut off autumn shoots from the base, so that at flowering time nutrients are concentrated on spring shoots and summer shoots.
6 Flowering Period Control
The key to controlling the flowering period lies in controlling the dormant period and the selection of varieties and plants.
6.1 Variety Selection. Single-petal varieties are easier to control but have low ornamental value. Semi-double and double-petal varieties are better. Flower color is decided according to use and personal preference, with pure white, pink, red, and gold-sprinkled being better.
6.2 Plant Selection. Plants that are robust, beautiful in tree shape, with plump and dense flower buds, and grown for 2-3 years should be selected for forcing cultivation. At the same time, plants for forcing cultivation should retain flower buds as much as possible during pruning.
6.3 Forcing Cultivation. Break the plant's dormant period in advance through low-temperature treatment, so that it flowers earlier.
6.3.1 Low-Temperature Treatment. Flower bud differentiation of peaches generally occurs from late September to early October. From the basic formation of all flower organs to flowering, it must go through a low-temperature stage. After 40-50 days at -2°C to 0°C, allowing full dormancy, place them in a greenhouse 45-50 days before the scheduled flowering period and gradually raise the temperature. Taking flowering at Spring Festival as an example, after low-temperature treatment, begin heating in mid-December. The temperature increase must not be too rapid: 10°C-15°C in the early stage, and 20°C-25°C in the later stage; otherwise flower buds and leaf buds will sprout at the same time, affecting the ornamental effect. Promote flower bud sprouting and flowering. If the low-temperature stage is insufficient, it will be difficult to flower after heating or flowering will be poor.
6.3.2 Care and Management. During forcing cultivation, generally no fertilizer is applied before flowering; the nutrients stored in the tree body are sufficient to meet the needs of flowering. If necessary, apply one phosphorus and potassium liquid fertilizer from the flower bud swelling stage to the color-showing stage. At the same time, maintain relatively high air humidity and frequently spray water on the branches to facilitate flower bud sprouting, but the potting soil must not be too wet. In addition, during heating, the plant should receive sufficient light, especially when the flower buds are showing color; otherwise the flower color will be relatively pale and not brilliant. After the flower buds begin to show color, stop spraying water, to avoid water droplets falling on the flowers and affecting ornamental value.
7 Pest and Disease Control
Peaches can suffer damage from various pests and diseases in production. Especially during forcing cultivation in greenhouses, due to poor ventilation and other environmental factors, leaf diseases and pests such as aphids, scale insects, and whiteflies are extremely likely to occur. Therefore, preventive work should be done before the plant sprouts, spraying protective agents such as lime sulfur mixture. Once pest or disease damage is found in production, promptly spray fungicides or insecticides for control.