According to the growth and fruiting characteristics of peach trees, the life span of peach trees can be divided into four different age stages: young tree stage, early fruit stage, full fruit stage and aging stage.
(1) Young peach trees grow vigorously in the young tree stage, with obvious advantages at the top and many white branches, and the new shoots are easy to branch into more secondary branches, so the crown expands rapidly, but it is also prone to unclear affiliation, disorderly branch growth and uneven growth. The main tasks of plastic pruning in this period are: expanding crown quickly, cultivating backbone branches and fruiting branches, striving for early fruiting and laying a good foundation for long-term high yield in the future. When pruning, we should pay attention to light cutting and slow release, enlarge the crown, and combine pruning in winter and summer to promote its fruiting branches in the lower part to accelerate its formation and early fruiting.
(2) You can enter the first fruit stage 2-3 years after the young tree stage. During this period, the growth is still very vigorous, the crown is expanding, the fruiting branches are increasing year by year, and the yield is also gradually increasing.
The pruning work in this period is to continue to adjust the subordinate relationship of branches at all levels on the basis of pruning young trees, pick the core of strong new shoots in time, promote the growth of branches, cultivate all kinds of fruiting branches and improve early yield.
(3) Generally, the number of years in the full fruit period is about 6-7 years old to 20 years old. After the peach tree entered the full fruit stage, the crown slowly expanded, the growth of new shoots weakened, all kinds of branches were complete, the tree shape was basically completed, and most of the extended branches at all levels had become strong fruit branches with full flower buds; The proportion of medium and short fruit branches is high, and the main fruit part turns to large and medium branches, and the yield increases year by year. With the increase of yield, the opening angle of main branches gradually increased, some branchlets on the backbone branches gradually decreased, and holes began to appear bare.
The main tasks of pruning in this period are: to maintain vigorous tree potential and adjust the balance of main and lateral branches; Pay attention to the selection and cultivation of regenerated branches, select and retain the base branches of main branches, so that the crown can retain more fruiting parts; The extended branches of the main branches at all levels should be trimmed appropriately to delay the outward migration of the resulting parts as much as possible; Branches that are too dense outside the crown can be properly thinned to maintain good ventilation and light transmission conditions, prolong the fruiting period and improve economic benefits.
(4) Peach trees generally reach the age of about 20 years, that is, they enter the aging period. During this period, the growth of branches decreased, the annual growth of new shoots was less than 30 cm, the middle branchlets began to decline, the big branches were weak, the crown was bald to varying degrees, the top of the main branches began to dry up, the total growth of the whole tree decreased, the yield began to decline, and the fruit size also decreased obviously.
The main tasks of pruning in this period are: renewing weak backbone branches and promoting the growth of strong new shoots and fruiting branches; Promote growth, select and retain, and cultivate tendrils with suitable growth positions for renewing aging main branches; At the same time, attention should be paid to renewing the fruiting branches in the inner cavity of the rejuvenated crown, delaying the aging period and maintaining the economic yield. When the economic value is lost, the whole garden should be updated in time.