How to deal with peach gum on your own peach trees?

Recently, I believe that everyone can see a variety of peaches in the fruit market. We all like to eat them. The big, red and sweet peaches piled there look very beautiful. In fact, the fruit farmers have worked hard for many times of watering, pruning and fertilizing to produce abundant fruits. So let's learn about the watering periods of peach trees and how to prune peach trees!

Contents of this article

1. Several periods of watering peach trees

2. How to prune peach trees

3. How to deal with peach gum on your own peach trees

Several periods of watering peach trees

1. Before germination. To ensure smooth germination, flowering and fruiting, water thoroughly and sufficiently, with the water seepage depth reaching 80 cm, but frequent watering is not advisable to avoid lowering the ground temperature and affecting the absorption of the root system.

2. Hard core stage. Although the fruit grows slowly, the embryo is in a rapid growth period. During this period, peach trees are sensitive to water and are in a critical period of water demand. Too much water will cause the branches and leaves to grow too vigorously, affecting fruit setting; while lack of water will also cause fruit drop, affecting yield. Watering during this period should be shallow, which fruit farmers call "overwatering", especially for trees in the early fruiting period. In fact, if 50% of the fruits show growth stagnation, it is a reference indicator for watering.

3. The second rapid growth period of the fruit: About two weeks before harvest, the fruit expands and grows rapidly. Supplying sufficient water at this time can significantly increase the yield.

4. After the leaves fall. Water the peach trees from late October to early November before the leaves fall and the soil freezes. This is called "frozen watering". Ensure that the soil has sufficient moisture to help the peach trees survive the winter safely. However, "frozen watering" should not be done too late, so as to avoid the occurrence of stem rot due to water accumulation in the roots or excessive moisture, and alternating freezing and thawing during the day and night. If there is too much autumn rain or the soil is heavy, it is not necessary to water.

How to prune a peach tree

1. Bud removal and sprout removal

When buds sprout in early spring, the leaf buds that tend to grow too long and disrupt the tree shape after branching should be removed as soon as possible to save nutrients and promote growth. During the shaping of young trees, if the extension branch cut is a double bud, a young shoot with a suitable direction and strong growth should be selected as the extension branch, and the rest of the buds or new shoots should be removed. When adult trees retract large branches, buds sprout near the wound. If there is space available, 1 to 2 young shoots with good directions and strong growth should be selected to fill the space, and all the excess ones should be removed to avoid disrupting the tree shape and affecting growth. The suckers on old trees should be used as much as possible, except for those that are too dense, in order to renew and strengthen the tree.

2. Topping

After the new shoots grow to the required length, timely pinching can limit the lengthening growth or promote the secondary branches to accelerate the formation. In order to ensure the growth potential of the backbone branches, the extension branches of the main branches and side branches are generally pinched at 40 to 50 cm, and the auxiliary branches on them should also be pinched. When the growth potential between the main branches is uneven, pinching the strong main branches can weaken their growth potential and balance the growth potential of the strong and weak main branches. Generally, the new shoots on the side branches are pinched at 30 cm, which can make the new shoots grow full and the flower buds differentiate well. For the long branches that grow in the inner part of the crown, 6 to 8 buds can be pinched from late May to early June. After the branches grow, the strong branches are removed and the medium branches are left to cultivate branch groups. Generally, pinching in the early stage can promote growth; pinching in the late stage can promote development. Therefore, the time and frequency of pinching should be determined according to the purpose of pinching and the condition of the tree and branches. Generally, the pinching time of vigorous trees and vigorous shoots is early and the number of times is more; the pinching time of weak trees and weak branches is late and the number of times is less.

3. Twist the tip

For the upright branches with vigorous growth, when the base of the new shoots begins to lignify in early to mid-May, pinch the initial lignified part with your hands and twist it towards the gap in the crown, trying to reduce the degree of phloem damage when twisting, and after several twists, make the branches horizontal or oblique. This will not only ease the growth of the tip and prevent excessive growth, but also cultivate branch groups to occupy effective space.

How to deal with peach gum on your own peach tree

Peach gum from your own peach tree can be picked, washed and dried for storage. Peach gum is a kind of resin on the peach tree, which can be eaten. The dried peach gum can be eaten directly after simple processing, or it can be made into delicious desserts with other ingredients, such as peach gum fruit salad, peach gum sago dew, etc.

The picked peach gum can be soaked in mulberry ash water to wash away impurities. Mulberry ash water is made by mixing the ash from burning mulberry branches with water. It is alkaline and can clean the impurities in peach gum.

If you don’t have mulberry ash water, you can directly use clean water to wash the peach gum, but clean water may not wash it thoroughly enough, so you need to soak it and pick out impurities before eating it.

The dried peach gum can be sealed in a plastic bag and stored in a cool, dry and ventilated place.