When is the best time to prune peach trees?

When is the best time to prune peach trees?

The best time to prune peach trees is in late spring and early summer, late autumn and early winter, also known as summer pruning and winter pruning. These two prunings, one during the growing season and the other during the dormant season, are both very effective prunings that do little harm to the tree.

1. Summer pruning

Summer pruning is an important pruning during the growing season of peach trees, and it is also a pruning that affects the quality and yield of peach fruits .

Because of the vigorous growth in the spring, the tree crown has become dense and large, especially in late spring and early summer, when the branches and leaves are lush and the peach fruits are just beginning to ripen, which is the time when pruning is most needed.

This pruning not only improves the lighting and ventilation conditions between branches and leaves and prevents diseases and insects, but also thins out some densely grown inferior fruits to ensure the nutritional supply of the fruit and improve the quality of the fruit.

1. Prevent diseases and insects

Spring and summer are not only the seasons for the vigorous growth of branches and leaves, but also the seasons for the breeding of pathogens and the hatching of insect eggs. Many pathogens will breed and multiply on branches and leaves; and insect pests will also lay eggs on branches or leaves and hatch in time.

More importantly, they will constantly corrode branches and gnaw leaves, which is very detrimental to fruit trees during their growth period. Therefore, when pruning, it is advisable to first cut off dry branches and diseased branches to eliminate the disaster.

2. Lighting and ventilation

In spring and summer, due to the rapid growth of peach trees and their luxuriant branches and leaves, the tree crown is often closed, light pathways are blocked and photosynthesis is affected, which in turn affects the tree vigor and fruit quality.

Therefore, when pruning, it is advisable to cut off the densely growing cross branches and overlapping branches in the crown to make it evenly lighted and ventilated. This is beneficial to the growth of the plant and less likely to cause diseases and insect pests.

3. Pruning and thinning

People usually choose to prune peach trees in late spring and early summer during the growing season. During this period, many peach varieties or peach trees in certain regions have already hung small fruits, but for those densely grown fruits, people often thin out some to ensure nutritional supply.

Therefore, it is advisable to cut off the inferior fruits on weak and diseased branches together with the branches and fruits. At the same time, it is also advisable to thin out the densely grown fruits on strong branches.

4. Control the growth of the plants

In spring and summer, peach trees often have excessive or leggy branches and leaves. Many branches are stretched out long, growing without bearing fruit and occupying resources. Therefore, these branches should also be cut off to ensure the nutritional supply of the fruit.

2. Winter pruning

Winter pruning is also called dormant pruning, and it is the most important pruning of many fruit trees in a year. In late autumn and early winter, when the leaves have faded, the peach trees are already dormant, which is the best time for pruning. This pruning is mainly for disease and insect prevention, shaping, dwarfing, and nutrient storage.

1. Prevent diseases and insects

Disease and insect prevention is always the primary purpose of fruit tree pruning, and this is also true for peach trees. When pruning in winter, it is advisable to first prune away dry branches and diseased and weak branches.

Because they often become carriers of viruses and parasites of insect eggs, if they are not pruned in time, as long as the conditions are met, they will continue to breed and spread, causing harm to other branches. Therefore, these branches are the first to be pruned.

2. Adjust the tree shape

Winter pruning of peach trees is an opportunity to adjust and reshape the trees, especially in peach orchards. It is not only related to the balance and beauty of the trees themselves, but also to the neatness and tidiness of the orchard.

Therefore, when pruning, it is better to shorten the pruning when necessary, shorten the pruning when necessary, and relax the pruning when necessary, so as to achieve the purpose of adjusting the tree's vigor and beautifying the shape.

3. Shorten the tree trunk

In order to make picking easier, people often shorten the trunk of fruit trees by cutting back the trunk that is too tall, or by cutting back some of the upright branches that have strong growth, to shorten the tree. This is also true for peach trees.

4. Nutrient storage

Winter pruning of peach trees is the biggest pruning of the year.

Not only should the dry, diseased and weak branches be pruned off, but also the densely grown crossing branches, overlapping branches, inner branches, and long branches should be pruned off. Such a large-scale reduction can greatly reduce unnecessary nutrient consumption and reserve enough nutrients for the coming year.

Therefore, it is best to choose late autumn or early winter for winter pruning of peach trees to minimize nutrient loss.