Peach fruits are not only a delicious dessert delicacy, but also a kind of plant pharmacy. Sweet, juicy and tender peach fruit pulp not only has an excellent taste, but is also characterized by a high content of sugars, vitamins and beneficial organic acids.
In addition, peach fruits are distinguished by an increased concentration of minerals and trace elements. The use of peaches and products based on them is recommended for diseases of the cardiovascular system, the immune system, the gastrointestinal tract, and the respiratory system.
Peach is a thermophilic culture of the subtropics. Even varieties adapted to colder climates as a result of breeding need special care and shelter for the winter.
But despite all the difficulties, the use of special cultivation methods makes it possible to obtain crops of this crop even in regions that would seem to be completely unsuitable for its cultivation (for example, in Khakassia and Siberia).
The article considers the cultivation of peaches in various climatic conditions, and also describes special methods that can significantly increase the frost resistance of this crop.
Content:
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Description of peach
Well formed peach tree
Like most fruit crops, peach (Prunus perdica) is a member of the Pink family from the genus Plum. The plant is a tree up to 5 m in height with a spreading or pyramidal crown. Most varieties released in temperate regions rarely grow above 3 m. The peach bark is relatively soft, it has a grayish-brown color.
Peach roots can penetrate up to 4 m deep, but most of the root system is located shallow - 20-60 cm from the surface.
Peach leaves are lanceolate, with small notches along the edges. Their length can reach up to 15 cm, width - up to 4 cm. The color of the leaves is light green.
Pink or red flowers appear before the leaves open. The flowering period coincides with apricots and falls on April. Like all roses, the flower has five petals, one pistil and about 15 stamens. The ovaries may be vulnerable to return frosts.
The fruits, depending on the variety of the plant, have a different shape:
- spherical; most of the varieties are
- elongated (some northern varieties and subspecies, for example, Kievsky)
- flattened (fig peach)
The fruits of mid-ripening peaches can be obtained at the end of July
On one side of the fruit there is a characteristic groove. Outside, the fruit is covered with a velvety skin, on which a blush may be present. The bone, otherwise called the endocarp, is dense and hard, it has a wrinkled structure and a sharp point at the end.
Fruit weight can reach 200 g, but in most varieties it does not exceed 30-40 g. Ripening for early ripening varieties occurs in July; the latest ripen at the end of September.
Peach fruits have excellent taste, they are juicy and fragrant. The pulp in table varieties is fibrous, in canning varieties it is cartilaginous. The color is white or yellow, rarely reddish.
Depending on the device of the fruit and how the stone is separated from the pulp, real peaches, pavia, nectarines and bruignons are distinguished. The first two of the varieties have pubescence, the rest are smooth.
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The main problem in growing this crop is wintering.
Most varieties of peach die already at a temperature of -20°C. More winter-hardy varieties tolerate temperatures down to -27°C for buds and -35°C for wood.
However, these figures are considered by many gardeners to be overly optimistic, therefore, even in regions with more or less warm winters, they try to cover the peach for the winter, if possible somehow.
Regions with a warm climate
Growing peach in Moldova
Without changing the standard "layout" of the tree (stem and several skeletal branches), the culture can be grown only in the south of Russia, Ukraine and south-west of Belarus.
The regions in which the peach feels relatively good in the form of an ordinary tree include: Kuban, Rostov region, Astrakhan, Caucasus, Kherson, Nikolaev and Odessa regions in Ukraine, as well as the Brest region, located on the territory of Belarus.
Growing in the middle lane
Growing peaches on horizontal trellises in cool climates
The Central Strip of Russia, the Moscow region, the regions of the Black Earth and the Volga region - these are already risk zones for growing classic peach trees. Of course, you can wrap the trunk with several layers of thermal insulation for the winter, and hang protection from a special heat-insulating fabric on the crown, but this will take a lot of time, and besides, this method is not cheap.
In such regions, peaches are grown in the form of low stems with 2-3 rows of branches on each side of the trunk. Such a design is much easier to protect from frost and other environmental factors (in particular, from strong winds).
The crown of this method of formation consists of 4-6 branches, which should be placed as close as possible next to each other. The optimal distance is 20 cm. Annually, with the beginning of spring (best before the time of sap flow), cyclic pruning of trees should be carried out.
It is made in the same way as grapes: several upper annual branches are cut at distances of up to 30 cm, and the lower branches located below them are cut by 10 cm. Accordingly, if there are six branches (three rows each), the upper one is cut by 50 cm, middle by 30 cm, and lower by 10 cm.
In order to avoid excessive growth, in the middle of summer they pinch all young branches that have reached 10-15 cm above the outer bud. In addition, all excess growth that appears on the stem and near it is removed. If a branch develops faster than others, it is shortened by two buds, and so on. It is this method that guarantees better fruiting and restoration of fruit-bearing branches.
Growing in cold regions
Slate peach shape
In more severe regions, it is even more difficult. Here it is necessary to cover the plant completely, bending its branches and trunk to the ground. Peach wood is fragile, so growing it in the form of a tree or a low trunk is out of the question. For growing in Siberia (Chelyabinsk region, Khabarovsk Territory, etc.), the so-called. slate form.
For this, the branches of the tree, starting from a young age, are literally allowed to creep along the ground. At the same time, young shoots on which generative buds appear have a length of about 1 m and grow perpendicular to the soil level. Since they are flexible enough, they can be easily bent to the ground for shelter for the winter. Despite such an unusual design, slate forms give abundant harvests and have good resistance to summer cold and winter frost.
There are two types of stlanets: Krasnoyarsk, in which the main trunk has a short length and is located perpendicular to the ground and the Minusinsk stlanets, which is located relative to the ground at an angle of 45-60 °.
Peaches in a greenhouse in the Urals
Usually, the formation of the slate is carried out according to the following scheme:
- for planting choose frost-resistant varieties that do not have high yields, but have good endurance
- seedlings are planted in open ground and pinched at a height of 15-20 cm to form branches
- in subsequent years, branchings are allowed parallel to ground level
- in the future, these branches will play the role of rootstocks, on which cultivated peaches should be grafted, which are a kind of shoulders of the stlanets
- vaccination is carried out at the beginning of the season, so that by autumn the shoots have grown sufficiently, and they can be bent to the ground for wintering
In this form, the stlanets support all the time of fruiting. As the rootstock grows, new cultural grafts are grafted onto it - such agricultural technology allows the stalks to grow in width and height.
The slate is covered in several layers: the branches are first sprinkled with a layer of sawdust or straw, and on top they are covered with agrofiber or ordinary polyethylene. The outer layer is earth or fallen leaves.
Growing at home
Peach grown at home in a pot
In this form, peach can be grown almost anywhere. Housing conditions, although they impose some restrictions on the size of the tree, still allow you to get, albeit small, but stable yields from season to season. Usually, such a tree bears fruit for 5-7 years.
But the main purpose of growing peach at home is this is the receipt of seedlings during seed propagation of a culture. To obtain more seed material with this method of reproduction, it is recommended to keep the seedling not in open ground for the first two years, but in more gentle conditions.
In addition, it is sometimes difficult to predict the moment of seed germination and a young plant may not have time to be planted in open ground before the onset of cold weather. Having overwintered in a tub or pot and gained strength, a seedling planted in open ground in spring will take root perfectly.
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Different ways to grow peach
Growing peach from seed
Currently, there are three methods of planting peach trees:
- with seedlings
- with the help of vaccinations
- seed cultivation
Each of the above methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. Mostly they relate to the timing of reaching the fruiting regime and the percentage of accustomed planting material. As a rule, the less fast-growing method is used, the higher the probability of saving all planting material.
In addition, peaches are propagated by cuttings. However, the effectiveness of this growing method is a matter of debate. On the one hand, peach cuttings can be obtained in large quantities and they take root perfectly, on the other hand, it is believed that with such cultivation, the characteristics of the variety are lost.
Planting seedlings
A grafted peach seedling before planting in a hole
For peach, it is best to use loose and fertile soil with neutral acidity. If the soil is acidic, it is recommended to lime with wood ash.
The easiest way to plant a peach is with seedlings. The mechanism of this method is standard for most fruit trees and peaches are no exception. Peach should be planted in sunny areas, protected from cold winds.
Holes up to 60 cm deep and 40-60 cm in diameter are prepared several months in advance. In general, planting can be carried out both in spring and autumn. Traditionally, spring planting is used more often, so preliminary soil preparation is carried out in the autumn of the season preceding planting.
To do this, drainage is done in the wells and organic matter is introduced into them. Usually, 10-15 cm of humus or compost is poured onto the bottom of the hole over a drainage layer of crushed stone or brick. From above it is covered with 5 cm of excavated soil.
The distance between the holes depends on the width of the peach crown and the method of its formation. Usually, it is taken from 3 to 6 m. The seedling is placed on a mound inside the pit, sprinkled with earth, which is rammed and watered with 1-2 liters of water. The root neck or grafting site is always located above ground level.
Vaccination use
Grafting a peach split into plum
Varietal peaches can be grafted onto cherry plum, plum, apricot, turn. Grafting is carried out in a split or with the help of budding. The optimal vaccination time is early spring, before the buds open. On the other hand, there is a high probability of death of seedlings from recurrent frosts. In this case, it is necessary to take care of the insulation of the grafting and grafting site. Slices must be treated with garden pitch.
Growing from the bone
Stratified seeds
It is believed that this method of cultivation allows you to save most of the characteristics of the mother tree. Traditionally, three methods are used in seed cultivation:
- stratification
- extraction of seeds from seeds
- natural germination at room temperature
In the case of stratification, an imitation of natural cold conditions is created, which will be an incentive for germination. The bones are placed in a small container with sand, which is wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in the refrigerator. After 3-4 months, the seeds hatch and sprouts appear.
Next, the seeds are placed in pots with a substrate (a mixture in equal proportions of earth, peat and humus), where they are grown until they reach a size suitable for planting in open ground. Usually, it takes from 1 to 1.5 years. During cultivation, a constant temperature of + 18-20 ° C is maintained and regular watering is carried out so that the substrate remains moist. Transplanted peaches from a pot to the garden in early spring, this contributes to better rooting of seedlings.
The second method involves the destruction of the hard shell of the stone, extracting the seeds and placing them in warm water for 2-3 days. Next, the hatched seeds are placed in a pot and act according to the algorithm described above.
Extracting seeds from seeds
When germinating at room conditions, the seeds are first kept for about a week in the refrigerator, after which they are planted in pots. The pots are wrapped in polyethylene and placed on the windowsill.
Peaches germinated in the "warm" way in the fifth month after planting
The substrate is regularly moistened, and the polyethylene is removed every day for several hours for ventilation. If everything was done correctly, sprouts appear in about 3-4 months. As soon as shoots appear, you need to remove the polyethylene shelter, and put the tour in a sunny place. Further cultivation is similar to that described earlier.
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Pruning a peach seedling when planting
Plant care consists of regular watering and fertilizing, pruning and pest control. Weeds should be removed regularly around young trees.
watering
Watering peach
The tree has good resistance to drought, so it does not need too frequent watering. The optimal frequency is once every two weeks. Peach watering is carried out in the near-stem circle, which is limited by an embankment with a diameter of about 1.0-1.2 m. The volume of water for irrigation is determined similarly to all trees of the Plum genus: 1 bucket per 1 year of plant life.
top dressing
Fertilizing peach with organic matter in autumn
Adult peaches are fed with mineral fertilizers three times a season, young ones - twice. The first top dressing is carried out during budding with the help of mineral fertilizers. Urea, nitroammophoska or kemira are introduced into the near-stem circle in the amount of 30-40 g under a tree for young trees and 150-200 g for fruit-bearing ones.
The second top dressing is made in the second decade of July. In this case, a mixture of 50 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium salt is used (a mixture of potassium sulfate and potassium chloride can be used in equal proportions) for young trees or 200 g and 100 g, respectively, for fruit-bearing trees.
The third top dressing is performed only for fruit-bearing trees and is carried out during the beginning of fruit growth, the norms are similar to the second top dressing. Once every 3-4 years in the fall, all types of peaches need to be fertilized with organic matter. Usually, it is applied in the form of 1-2 buckets of compost or tree humus.
Pruning and crown shaping
Formative pruning peach tree
Sanitary pruning is performed as needed. It is traditionally made in the spring. At the same time, dry, damaged and frostbitten branches are removed.
The next year after planting on the central stem, all side shoots are cut off up to 50 cm. Above the trunk (from 1 to 1.2 m high), 3 to 6 skeletal branches are left, the rest, along with the main trunk, are removed.
The following year, second-order shoots appear on all remaining branches. They are also cut to 50 cm. This season, fruit-bearing branches are formed on them, on which a crop may appear next year. They are left at 10-15 cm, the rest of the shoots are cut into a ring. From year to year after the start of fruiting, the crown is maintained in the same condition. Excess growths are pruned in a timely manner, as well as non-fruitful ones. In addition, thin out all young shoots (even those that may be fruitful) growing inside the crown.
The formation of undersized boles and slate forms have been discussed earlier.
Disease and pest control
Peach leaf curl
Methods of dealing with diseases and pests if they appear, they are standard. Of the diseases, peach is mainly affected by fungal diseases:
- powdery mildew
- moniliosis or fruit rot
- leaf curl
- gum treatment
Traditional pests:
- aphid
- scale insects
- peach moth
- codling moth
- plum codling moth
peach moth
Fungal diseases require the use of copper-containing drugs. If your peaches develop a characteristic bloom or spots, you should start processing as soon as possible. Most often, ordinary copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture is used. At temperatures above +25°C, ground sulfur is used, to which lime is added (30 and 15 g, respectively, per 10 l of water). From various types of insects, insecticides or acaricides are used.
However, prevention is the best way to deal with it. especially for a crop such as peach, the yield of which already depends on many factors in a cold climate. From diseases caused by fungi, it is recommended to spray the plants with a 3% solution of Bordeaux liquid before the buds begin to swell.
And after the growing season begins and the leaves bloom, they should be treated with insecticides and fungicides of biological origin. For spraying, Biosan, Fitosporin, Mikosan, Alerin and so on are best suited.
Peaches are processed at intervals of 1 to 2 weeks; they are sprayed until harvest. The last treatment should be no later than 10 days before the removal of the fruits. The composition of the preparations should include adhesive substances so that the preparations are held on the foliage and shoots.
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Hello, I have been dealing with peaches for 20 years, I don’t know the variety, from the beginning I grew it from seeds, but the results are unpredictable, only in 2012 I managed to grow a good variety - the average fruit weight is 400-450g (one fruit was even 750g), only one branch is bad break down. Now I graft this peach to apricots, I achieve an early ripening period, because sap flow and naturally flowering begins earlier at apricots. And in order to grow from the stone, it is necessary to isolate the original peach during flowering. I also grow apple trees from seeds, one variety turned out to be very large, but one drawback is that wasps eat.
Thank you. It was interesting to read about your experience.