Detailed Explanation of Key Management Techniques for Pollution-Free Peach Cultivation

Peach is a famous fruit variety in China. Because it is rich in various vitamins, it is deeply loved by the general public, and its cultivation is also relatively widespread.

1. Garden plot selection

For establishing a peach orchard, choose a site with high and dry, level terrain and deep sandy loam soil. The soil should be fertile, with high organic matter content, good aggregate structure, and abundant groundwater resources, so that it can be irrigated in drought and drained in waterlogging, with complete irrigation and drainage facilities. Avoid establishing an orchard on continuously cropped land or alkaline soil.

2. Requirements for environmental conditions

1. Temperature: During the winter dormancy period, peach trees need low temperatures below 7.2°C to complete dormancy and sprout normally. During the spring flowering period, peach trees have the lowest resistance to low temperatures, and are generally susceptible to frost damage below 0°C. The fruit ripening period requires a certain amount of high temperature; when the average temperature during the growing period reaches 24.9°C, yields are high and quality is good.

2. Light: Peach trees are strongly light-loving tree species. If cultivation and management are improper and the upper canopy branches and leaves are too dense, then the lower part will have insufficient light, small branches will easily die, and the "bare legs" phenomenon will appear. Therefore, reasonable pruning and shaping are necessary.

3. Water: Peach trees are relatively drought-tolerant; excessive rainfall will cause excessive vegetative growth, poor fruiting, and reduced quality. However, after flowering and during the rapid fruit growth period, if water supply is insufficient, fruit development will be seriously affected and a large amount of fruit drop will be caused. Peach trees are afraid of waterlogging and are not tolerant of flooding; a high groundwater table and poor drainage can easily cause root rot, and even the death of the entire tree.

4. Soil: Generally, any soil can be used for planting, but well-drained, deep sandy soil is most suitable.

3. Production management techniques

1. Raising seedlings: There are 3 ways to raise peach seedlings, namely seed seedling propagation, grafting propagation and cutting propagation. Grafting propagation is mainly by bud grafting, and commonly used rootstocks include Mao Tao, mountain peach and common rootstock. The sowing time of rootstock seeds is generally divided into autumn sowing and spring sowing. Autumn sowing is from late October to early November, burying the rootstock seeds directly into the soil of the nursery. Spring sowing is to sow the rootstock seeds after stratification treatment from late March to early April. If cultivating fast-growing seedlings, the sowing time can be advanced to late February to early March. For sowing, choose level terrain and loam or sandy loam with convenient irrigation and drainage as the nursery site.

2. Orchard establishment techniques: (1) Digging holes for planting: mark lines at fixed points according to the spacing between plants and rows (4 m x 5 m), dig holes or planting trenches 60-80 cm deep and 80-100 cm wide, and place topsoil and subsoil separately. Backfill 30 days before planting, mixing part of the subsoil with crop straw and weeds and filling it into the planting holes. (2) Timely trunk heading: When planting peach seedlings in spring and autumn, head the trunk. The heading height is generally cut at a plump bud near a trunk height of 40-60 cm, to reduce consumption of nutrients and water, promote bud germination, and increase the survival rate. (3) Post-planting management: After planting peach seedlings, irrigate in case of drought, carry out intertillage and weeding, or use 50 ml of 48% dinitroaniline emulsifiable concentrate per mu at 1000 times dilution for chemical weeding, then cover with film 1 meter wide to increase temperature and retain moisture to promote seedling growth and development.

3. Soil, fertilizer and water management: For soil improvement, newly established orchards should be deeply plowed throughout the orchard to improve the soil's water, fertilizer, air and heat conditions. (1) Fertilization: The best application period for base fertilizer is from mid-to-late September to early November. The fertilization method is mainly trench application (including ring, radial and strip). Trench fertilization generally requires a trench depth of 20-40 cm, and it should deepen year by year as the tree age increases, with a trench width of 30-40 cm. Generally, apply 8000 kg of decomposed barnyard manure per mu. (2) Pre-flowering topdressing: From late February to early March each year, apply 25 kg of urea per mu to increase the fruit-setting rate. (3) Fruit swelling fertilizer: In early June of the second year, apply 50 kg of calcium superphosphate and 40 kg of potassium sulfate per mu to promote fruit swelling and improve fruit sugar content and appearance quality. (4) Post-harvest fertilizer: In mid-September each year, apply 50 kg of ternary compound fertilizer per mu to compensate for nutrient consumption, make branch and bud development substantial, and note that watering should follow topdressing. (5) Watering: Pre-flowering water should be sufficient and thorough. Post-flowering water should be irrigated in a timely manner to ensure new shoot growth after flowering and fruit development and reduce fruit drop. Fruit swelling water: water shortage during this period will seriously affect fruit growth. Freezing water: Before peach trees enter winter, they must be irrigated once thoroughly to improve the tree's overwintering ability. Peach trees are drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging, so drainage is more important than irrigation. Before the rainy season to harvest, drainage channels must be promptly prepared. If water easily accumulates in the orchard, ridge drainage can be adopted.

4. Pruning and shaping: (1) Commonly used tree forms: The commonly used tree forms for peach include cup shape, open-center main branch shape, spindle shape, and natural open-center main branch shape. (2) Pruning methods: Winter pruning methods mainly include heading back, thinning branches and renewal pruning, 3 types in total. Summer pruning methods mainly include bud removal and sprout elimination, scoring, pinching, shoot twisting, branch bending, girdling and several others. (3) Pruning of young trees and first-fruiting trees: For first-fruiting trees, first head back the auxiliary branches, then remove the strong and keep the weak, and cultivate them into fruiting branch groups. During the young tree period, summer pruning should be done well. When the extension shoot of the main branch reaches about 70 cm in length, use secondary shoots as extension shoots so that the main branch forms secondary branches within 1 year. In late May, promptly thin out excessively dense water sprouts and competing branches. For those retained, according to their growth space, either twist the shoots or retain length and heavily pinch at 153 cm. For secondary shoots emerging from the canopy, generally do not thin them out; when they are about 30 cm and not yet lignified, twist the shoots. (4) Pruning during the full fruiting period: The main task of pruning peach trees during the full fruiting period is to coordinate the contradiction between growth and fruiting and achieve high quality and high yield. Timely renewal: The commonly used methods include single-branch renewal and double-branch renewal. Single-branch renewal is to head back fruiting branches leaving 3-5 buds, promoting fruiting while growing branches. During winter pruning the following year, retain 1-2 new shoots at the base and continue single-branch renewal. Double-branch renewal is to lightly prune the upper one of two adjacent shoots to make it bear fruit, and heavily cut the lower one leaving 2-3 buds to promote sprouting and branching. During winter pruning the following year, cut back and remove the upper branch that has already fruited. For the reserve branches and newly emerging branches, leave one long to bear fruit, and heavily cut one as a reserve branch, continuing double-branch renewal.

5. Flower and fruit management: (1) Pollen collection: When collecting pollen from peach trees, it is best to do so when the flowers are in bud or at the early flowering stage. The method is to collect flowers from vigorous branches of suitable pollinating varieties, then take the anthers indoors, place them on glossy paper, and dry them in a shaded, windless place at 20-25°C. After 1-2 days, the anthers open and release pollen, which can be used for pollination after sifting. (2) Artificial pollination: First fully mix the pollen with 2-3 times its amount of talcum powder or starch, put it in a small bottle, and use a brush or soft rubber to dip the pollen and gently touch the stigmas of newly opened flowers. One dip can pollinate 7-10 flowers. (3) Flower and fruit thinning: For peach flower and fruit thinning, carry it out two weeks after flower drop, when large and small fruits can be distinguished. Leave 2-3 fruits on long fruiting branches, 1-2 on medium fruiting branches, and 1 fruit on short fruiting branches and bouquet fruiting branches. When thinning fruit, old trees should be thinned early, and trees in the first fruiting period should be thinned later. On 1 tree, first top then bottom, and thin fruit branch by branch in sequence. (4) Fruit bagging: Bagging peach fruit is an effective measure to improve fruit quality and reduce pests and diseases. The paper bag specification for this variety is 22 x 24 cm. Bagging should be carried out 45 days before fruit ripening. Remove the paper bags all at once 7 days before fruit ripening, and remove the leaves shading the fruit to help the fruit color.

4. Pest and disease control

1. Main pests and diseases: The main pests and diseases of peach trees include: peach bacterial shot hole disease, brown rot, aphids, and peach fruit borer.

2. Control principles: In accordance with the plant protection policy of "prevention first, integrated control," adhere to the harmless control principle of "mainly agricultural control, physical control and biological control, with chemical control as a supplement." (1) Agricultural control: Before winter, turn over the tree to eliminate overwintering pupae, larvae and pathogens. Combined with winter pruning, cut off diseased branches, clear fallen leaves, and burn them in a concentrated manner. Strengthen peach orchard management, pay attention to drainage, increase application of organic fertilizer, avoid partial application of nitrogen fertilizer, prune reasonably to improve ventilation and light conditions, strengthen tree vigor, and improve the tree's disease resistance. (2) Physical control: In early March, cover the ground under the tree canopy with plastic film so that overwintering pupae and eggs cannot fly out after hatching. (3) Biological control: Actively protect and utilize natural enemies, and promote the use of plant-derived pesticides such as veratrine, matrine, azadirachtin, etc. to control pests and diseases. (4) Chemical control: Before germination, spray 30 times dilution of 5 degree Beaume lime sulfur mixture; after budding, spray 72% agricultural streptomycin soluble powder at 3000 times dilution to control bacterial shot hole disease, brown rot, etc., with per-mu amounts of 3-6 L and 33-66 ml respectively. During the peach tree growing period, spray once 10% imidacloprid wettable powder at 5000 times dilution, with a per-mu amount of 20-40 g, to control aphids; 25% diflubenzuron No. 3 suspension concentrate at 1500 times dilution, with a per-mu amount of 67-134 ml, can control peach fruit borer and also control golden leaf miner, etc. Both of these two pesticides should be applied 30 days before the fruit ripening period, and each may be used 2 times during the entire growing period.

5. Harvesting and packaging

1. Harvesting: The harvest period of peach fruit is often determined according to variety characteristics, @#@136@#@ distance, transportation tools, etc. Do not harvest too early or too late. Usually, the maturity of peach fruit is divided into 3 types: market maturity, full maturity and overripe stage. Market maturity: also called the firm-ripe stage of the fruit. At this time, the two sides of the fruit swell, the fruit surface has less fuzz, the ground color changes from green to white, the color is bright, and the soluble solids content reaches the level that the variety should have. Full maturity: appears 3-5 days after the firm-ripe stage. At this time, the peel gradually changes from green to light yellow or milky white, the color is bright, and the fruit juice pH value, titratable acid content and sugar-acid ratio all reach the level that the variety should have, fully expressing the variety's flavor and characteristics. Overripe stage: this is the period when peach fruit has fully ripened. When harvesting, gently hold the whole fruit with the hand and twist slightly, and the fruit stalk will separate from the fruiting branch; do not pull hard. After harvesting, transport with gentle handling and placing to avoid mechanical damage.

2. Packaging: Peach fruit is commonly packaged in cardboard boxes. During packaging, strict grading is required, and the fruit of each grade should maintain basically consistent size and color. There are 2 types of cardboard boxes: corrugated cardboard boxes and ordinary cardboard boxes. In corrugated cardboard boxes, hard cardboard strips are used to divide them into compartments. After the peach fruit is wrapped in paper, it is placed in the compartments, with 10 fruits per layer, and the whole box can hold 2 layers of fruit. Paper box packaging is suitable for transport, sale and export.

6. Pesticides not allowed for use

Phorate, disulfoton, monocrotophos, methamidophos, 1605, methyl 1605 emulsion, omethoate, phosphamidon, carbofuran, aldicarb, isofenphos-methyl, chlordimeform, dicofol, propargite, DDT, benzene hexachloride, lindane sodium fluoride, fluoroacetamide, asomate and other arsenic preparations, etc.