What are the key points of peach tree pruning techniques?
Peach is a fruit we very much enjoy eating, and it has many different varieties, with a wide planting area in our country. Now that winter has arrived, peach trees also need to be pruned appropriately to prepare for overwintering. However, many people have not mastered the correct pruning technique, which instead affects the growth of the peach tree after pruning. So how exactly should peach trees be pruned? Below, the editor brings you the key points of peach tree pruning techniques. Let's take a look!
1. Long-shoot pruning
When pruning, pay attention to the age and growth stage of the peach tree. For shoots grown within one year, do not prune heavily; appropriate thinning and leaving them unpruned will do. After pruning, the sprouting ability and shoot growth capacity of the branches will be strengthened, though the growth vigor will still be somewhat weakened. However, their growth amount is large and nutrients are relatively dispersed, which can promote flower bud differentiation, flowering and fruiting, etc. Therefore, for vigorous trees and young trees, light pruning should be the main approach, to advance the fruiting time, moderate the growth vigor, and promote the growth of the peach tree.
2. Heading back
Heading back has four methods, including heavy heading back and medium heading back, etc. The main pruning target is also shoots grown within one year, cutting off about 1/3 to improve the nutrient absorption of the branches, enhance growth capacity and the growth vigor of new shoots. Heading back is mainly used on fruit trees with many branches and high competitiveness. Through heading back, competition among branches can be reduced, extreme differences can be prevented, and fruiting mother branches can be directly cultivated on the main trunk.
3. Thinning
Thinning is to completely cut off peach tree branches from their base. The purpose is to prevent too many branches from affecting respiration and light absorption, reducing the permeability of the fruit tree and affecting growth. Ensure that branches are both sparse and dense, distributed evenly on the peach tree. It can also improve at least the growth capacity and promote flower bud differentiation of the peach tree. The main targets of thinning are overly long, overly dense, overlapping branches and branches with pests and diseases on the peach tree.
4. Bud removal
After the new buds of the peach tree sprout, the excess new buds on the shoots should be removed, mainly water sprouts and competing clustered buds. Usually, when removing buds from double branches, half are removed, and then their growth direction is appropriately adjusted during shaping. Bud removal on young trees should follow the standard of keeping the strong and removing the weak. Bud removal can prevent the growth of too many useless branches, reduce nutrient consumption, increase the light-receiving area of peach tree branches, and also prevent wounds from being too large, which could cause infection and lead to pests and diseases.
5. Pinching
Pinching is mainly to inhibit the growth of new shoots, control the speed of vegetative growth, and promote subsequent new branch growth of the peach tree. It is usually used in the shaping of young trees and the tissue cultivation of adult trees. When pinching, do not do it on the lignified part, otherwise it will affect the growth of the peach tree and easily cause diseases such as gummosis. Therefore, in order to prevent the branches from fully lignifying, we should begin pinching when the new shoots grow to about 25 cm.
The above is a brief introduction to the key points of peach tree pruning techniques. There are still many methods for pruning peach trees. For example, branch bending, renewal pruning, etc., are all carried out for the healthy growth of the peach tree. Also, after pruning, we should pay attention to properly treating the pruning wounds. If they cannot heal quickly, it may lead to wound infection, affecting the growth of the peach tree and even causing death in severe cases. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for your reading and support.