2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Peach, or peach tree (Latin Prunus persica) - a fruit plant of the subgenus Almond of the Pink family. China is considered to be the homeland of the peach, but this fact has not yet been confirmed. It is cultivated mainly in South America, Central Asia and Transcaucasia. On the territory of Russia, it is grown only in the southern regions with a warm climate.
Characteristics of culture
Peach is a deciduous tree up to 8-9 m high with a trunk covered with red-brownish scaly bark. The crown is open. Young branches are smooth, thin, old ones are rough, drooping, powerful. Leaves are lanceolate, narrowed towards the base, glabrous, with shine, serrate along the edge, arranged alternately. The outer side of the leaf blade is dark green, the inner side is light green, sometimes with slight pubescence along the veins. The flowers are simple, single or paired, goblet-shaped, reach 2.5-3 cm in diameter, can be red, white or pink in color. There are varieties with double flowers. Flowers bloom simultaneously with leaves or a little earlier. Peach blooms for 10-12 days, in strong sun and drought flowering is reduced to 2-3 days.
The fruit is a drupe, it can be round, flattened, flattened-round, oval, semicircular, ovoid or elongated-oval in shape. The skin of the fruit is thin, pubescent over the entire surface. The fruit is equipped with a pronounced lateral "seam". The color of the fruit depends on the variety - from whitish green to bright orange. The pulp is juicy, sweet and sour or sweet, very aromatic. The inside of the fruit contains a brown, oval-shaped furrowed bone. Depending on climatic conditions and varieties, the fruits ripen in July - September. The first fruits appear 3-4 years after planting. The largest yields are obtained in 10-15 years. One adult tree bears up to 40-50 kg of fruits.
Growing conditions
Peach is a thermophilic plant, but it tolerates short frosts without problems. Temperatures below -20C are extremely detrimental to the development of culture, flower and leafy soils are damaged in the plant, and the root system often freezes out. As a result, the plants die without giving a full harvest. The peach also does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature. The optimum spring temperature for the appearance of flowers and leaves is 7-10C.
Peach has no special requirements for soil conditions; it accepts acidic, sandy, clayey and loamy soils. It is undesirable to grow a crop in waterlogged and saline areas. Peach is distinguished by increased drought tolerance characteristics, but has a positive attitude to regular and moderate water supply. Therefore, watering plays an important role in the formation of a high-quality and abundant harvest. With a lack of moisture, the fruits become very shallow and become tasteless and non-aromatic.
Reproduction
Propagated by peach seeds, cuttings and grafting. The seed method is laborious, but effective. Plants obtained by sowing seeds practically do not differ from the original forms. Seed propagation enhances the adaptation of seedlings to unfavorable conditions. The culture is sown immediately after ripening, the bone from the pulp can not be separated. The soil for crops should be moderately moist and nutritious. Cutting also gives good results.
Care
In addition to systematic watering, the culture needs annual sanitary and formative pruning. The formation of the crown of peaches begins at the earliest possible date. The optimal pruning time is early spring, but the exact dates depend on the growing region, for example, in the Kuban, this procedure is carried out at the end of March. When planting a culture with seedlings, the first pruning is carried out after a year, weak and thickening shoots are removed from the plants, leaving six of the thickest and strongest shoots. In the future, dry and damaged shoots are removed from the plants and the main branches are shortened by 50-80 cm. Preventive treatment against pests and diseases is important for peaches. Among the diseases of the peach are powdery mildew, klyasternosporiosis and curly foliage. Top dressing with mineral and organic fertilizers is also necessary.
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