Peach pruning: when and how to do it correctly to form a tree

One of the capricious crops, the peach, requires the gardener to pay more attention and knowledge of agricultural technology. In care, the formation of a crown of a garden crop, the regulation of fruiting by pruning is considered a mandatory procedure. Without it, the tree will not be able to develop properly, and high yields depend directly on this procedure. But not everyone knows how to cut a peach to get a positive result.

Pruning goals and objectives

For the peach fruit crop, the role of annual pruning is to:

• activate the growth of young shoots;
• increase fruiting time;
• rejuvenate the tree;
• increase peach resistance to frost and disease;
• make the crown neat and aesthetic.

The peach tree will not be able to "feed" all the shoots that have appeared, so the extra ones must be removed. Then the forces will be enough for the ripening of the fruit. And to increase the sugar content of the crop, sunlight is needed. With a thickened crown, this will not happen.

Therefore, peaches on the branches will rot more often, as they will not have enough air to ventilate.

Regularly carried out procedure will renew the tree, make the crop productive, with strong immunity.

What tools and materials will be needed

In order to trim the extra peach branches, you need to prepare for the procedure. Be sure to remove branches:

• pruner with tightly closing cutting edges;
• long-handled lopper;
• garden saw;
• garden knife;
• scissors with rounded blade ends and strong handle rings.

All tools sharpen well, using them to trim both thin and thick shoots. You can only remove thick branches with a saw, and for medium ones, a lopper is suitable. Thin twigs and weak growth can be cut with scissors or secateurs, sharp, without nicks on the cutting surfaces.

It is necessary to have a sharpening wheel nearby in case the saw or knife becomes dull. Before using the instrument, the cutting parts are disinfected by wiping with medical alcohol or immersing in a solution of potassium permanganate. Immediately before the procedure, garden pitch and disinfectant solutions are prepared for the treatment of damaged wood.

Varieties of pruning

For upward growing fruit crops, pruning is needed, the purpose of which is to form a bush with 4-7 skeletal branches. But there are several types of pruning, which have different goals and objectives. They are used depending on the age of the tree, the season.

Forming

The formation of the crown of a tree begins even in the nursery, when a seedling is being prepared. Cutting off the top of the main shoot, they achieve branching of the crown. In the future, annual boughs are shortened annually, achieving the formation of a rounded or cupped crown with the correct arrangement of branches. Every year, the degree of pruning is reduced, and shortening is stopped when the crown has formed and the tree has begun to bear fruit.

Rejuvenating

This type of pruning is needed for old peach trees. Fruiting peach branches are removed to the place where good tops have grown, and from the new shoots the part that will fill the bare spots is left.

Restorative

Both spring and summer carry out the procedure for restoring peach after winter and fruiting. Thinning the crown, they remove defective thickening branches, and if necessary, both he althy and underdeveloped ones. When thinning, the crown becomes lighter, and the fruiting zone approaches the base of the shoots.

The need for pruning is to turn growth shoots into fruit-bearing ones. The procedure helps prevent premature death of fruit twigs.

Regulatory

When a large number of rings are formed, the older ones are cut off. If this is not done, then the number of fruits on the peach will decrease, they will become smaller. Unpruned trees do not bear fruit every year. This is how pruning regulates the time and duration of the appearance of peaches on the tree.

To regulate the shape of a peach, annual shoots are shortened if they are more than 50 centimeters and sharply go beyond the crown.

Terms of works

It is necessary to carry out all types of pruning at a certain time, when the need for the procedure has come. You can not ignore the rules of pruning, otherwise it will affect the fruiting of the peach, its vegetation. Work is carried out in two ways: with the complete removal of the branch or shortening it.

Spring

They begin thinning branches with the complete removal of some of them back in February, continuing to shorten annual shoots in the spring, achieving branching of the crown. The procedure is carried out depending on which form for the peach tree is chosen. It is necessary to remove a third or half of the length of the annual growth, and on the branches of the first order they cut more strongly than the second order. It is important to keep young growth, because most of the fruits are formed on 2-3-year-old branches.

Start thinning out before the plant's juices begin to flow, as soon as the snow melts. Then the peach will recover faster after pruning.

Summer

In summer peach is cut for sanitary purposes, clearing the crown from dry branches. Crown thickening is often found when the flowers fall. Therefore, summer pruning will eliminate those branches that grow incorrectly inside the crown. It is best to carry out the procedure at the end of June. It can be in July, when peaches are pitted.

Many are not sure if it is possible to prune branches with fruits. The procedure is carried out when there are so many fruits that the branches are overloaded with them.

Nuances of autumn pruning

Formation of the peach crown, according to experienced gardeners, should be carried out in the fall. A procedure carried out in summer or spring will lead to a decrease in stone fruit yields. Autumn pruning is especially suitable where the climate is warm.It is carried out after harvesting, while the heat is kept. There is a long time before the onset of a cold snap, and the tree will quickly recover from pruning.

The optimal time for the formation of a peach crown will be from early September to mid-October, after harvest. But we must not forget that the autumn procedure is not carried out in areas with a temperate climate. This can be detrimental to the peach. A weakened tree will not survive the early winter.

Why autumn pruning increases yields

Peach does not give full fruits if it has strong vegetative growth and thickened crown. The gardener can direct the development of the tree in the right direction. It is pruning in the fall after fruiting that is easier to carry out in order to correct the angles of branching and remove unnecessary shoots.

To have a good harvest and the fruits do not interfere with each other, weak growths are shortened by 25 centimeters, and fruiting - by 35-40.Leave on the last up to 4-8 groups of kidneys. After wintering, the tree will begin to develop rapidly, bloom and successfully bear fruit. Pruning in the spring will delay fruiting.

How growing area affects pruning timing

The timing of peach pruning depends on where the plant is cultivated. In the south of Russia, it is necessary to carry out all types of pruning in the fall. Then the fruiting will increase, and the tree will regularly delight with peaches.

In central Russia, winter comes earlier, and when pruning a peach in the fall, it will not have time to adapt. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten and thin out the branches in the spring, less often in the summer. It is better to do it in the early stages, until the sap flow has begun. So the wounds heal faster. In autumn, only regulatory and sanitary pruning is carried out.

Technology and sequence of formation of various types of crown

Before you start forming pruning, you need to determine what kind of crown will be done.Each type has its own procedure. Shorten and remove branches and shoots reasonably, then the result of pruning will be positive. To do it correctly, step-by-step actions are determined.

Bowl-shaped

Start pruning in autumn if peach is planted in spring. An annual seedling is cut off the top by 50 centimeters. Be sure to leave 2 buds on the shoot from different sides of the trunk. By shortening the side branches, they stimulate the development of one-year growth.

In the second year of a peach's life:

1. The central shoot is cut to the point where the side branches depart from the trunk if they are half a meter long.
2. With a small increase, only 30-40 centimeters, shorten to the last growth bud.
3. Leave 2-3 developed shoots on the branches, the rest are removed to the first leaf located closer to the trunk.

A year later, branches of the first order are shortened by a third. They need to leave 3 branches, removing growth buds from them, looking down. When peaches appear in the 4th year, it remains only to cut off the shoots that did not have inflorescences to the base.

The cupped crown will be based on 4 skeletal branches at the bottom and 5 at the top. Up to 80 fruit-bearing branches are left in an adult plant.

Bushy

This crown is also popular along with the bowl-shaped. Bush shaping allows:

• improve the illumination of all peach branches;
• increase yield;
• make the tree resistant to frost;
• facilitate crop care, fruit picking.

In the bush version of the crown there is no central shoot, but only 3-4 branches extending sideways, located in the lower quarter of the peach trunk. Shaping peach bushes:

• cutting the central shoot and side branches to the point of growth in autumn;
• leaving during the first procedure 3-4 lower shoots with 5 growth buds on each;
• selecting 6-8 main branches for the next year, cutting off the rest to the first leaf;
• after fruiting, leaving correctly arranged shoots, cutting the rest.

Every year, the growth of shoots and branches is regulated, trying to maintain the shape of the crown. If the branches go less than 45 degrees, then they are tied to a peg.

On the replacement knot

Green peach pruning is made short. To do this, 2 eyes are left on the branches, from which 2 shoots grow. One will bear fruit, and the second will replace it for the next year. Then the top is cut off at the top, and 2-3 buds are left on the bottom knot. This method helps to stop the exposure of branches of the first order.And the fruits will appear on last year's growth.

Fan

When creating a fan type crown, it is necessary to cut the branches so that they are located closer to each other, at a distance of 10-15 centimeters. Create a powerful type of tree from the first year of life. First, the central shoot is cut off, and the side branches are left in the amount of 3-4 pieces. They should be at a 45 degree angle. So continue to prune every year. When branches appear at the top of the central shoot, they leave 2, the strongest. It is necessary to leave up to 90 fruit-bearing branches on the tree. With insignificant harvests increase to 100-120.

This crown is chosen by peach farmers. The peculiarity of trees is that they do not break from the wind, they survive in snowy winters.

American

According to American technology, the crown is thinned out manually.They start with flowers, when the extra ones are plucked. During the appearance of the ovaries, the peach is examined. And too small, damaged ovaries are removed. At the same time, the load on the branches is regulated. When there are many fruits, the tree does not have enough strength to bring them to technical maturity.

Correct the work done after 1-2 weeks. After such work, the weight of the fruits on the peach will be the same, and everyone will have enough light and air. Thanks to the American technique, new fruit buds are laid.

Features of the procedure

It is necessary to carry out the removal and shortening of tree branches, taking into account the age of the peach. For young trees, it is necessary to direct agrotechnical actions to growth and development, preparation for fruiting. In a mature peach, the formation of fruits is regulated by pruning, removing their excess. An old plant needs rejuvenation.

For young seedlings

Peach planting is carried out with the shortening of the top of the central shoot. Lateral branches are also cut by a third. Then they continue pruning annual shoots, forming a crown with the correct arrangement of skeletal branches. It is necessary to remove their length by at least a third. When the growth is weak, up to 25-30 centimeters, then you can not touch the young peach.

For fruit-bearing trees

After 3-4 years peach does not require pruning, which can lead to no harvest. Now the emphasis is on thinning with the removal of weak, frozen branches. Be sure to remove those branches that lead to thickening of the crown.

Partially carry out shortening of shoots 50 centimeters long. An increment less than 20 centimeters long will have to remove some of the two-year-old wood. This will cause strong growth to occur.

For an old peach

To rejuvenate a tree that no longer bears fruit, it is necessary to shorten the skeletal branches of the first order by a third of their length. Tops left on the peach also need to be shortened, leaving a length of 50-60 centimeters.

Care after trimming

After the procedure, a number of activities must be carried out to help the tree adapt, protect it from diseases and pests:

1. Collecting the cut branches, burning them.
2. Wounds on peach are treated with garden pitch, small sections - with a solution of potassium permanganate or boric acid.
3. The trunk of a peach is wrapped with a thick cloth for the winter.
4. Peach is whitened with special solutions.
5. Water abundantly after autumn pruning so that moisture accumulates in the soil.
6. In the spring, you can lay a layer of mulch in the area around the trunk circle.

It is necessary to treat the tree carefully after pruning, like a patient after surgery.

Common mistakes

There are a number of mistakes when peach pruning is done incorrectly.And then one should not be surprised that the tree does not bear fruit. When the branches are shortened during the fruiting period, they lose the harvest. Strongly pruning the branches of a young tree, delay the onset of fruiting. This is especially true for he althy trees.

Many do not pruning peach, considering it an unnecessary procedure. Hence small fruits and irregular fruiting Be sure to start the pruning procedure only with two-year-old plants. If the branches move away from the trunk by less than 45 degrees, then they are tied to a peg. It is not worth starting shortening early, otherwise the peach may die.

Do not forget that the degree and method of pruning is chosen depending on the structure, age of the peach, crop variety. It is easy to shorten the branches to a great extent, but this leads to the oppression of the plant, although the annual growth will be strong and plentiful.

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