The primary goal in peach and nectarine production should be to develop a tree canopy that is efficient at capturing sunlight and uses the energy of sunlight to produce fruit.
Since an orchard system integrates many factors, this manual deals with tree density, interception and distribution of sunlight in fruit trees, crop loading, thinning, fruit quality, tree nutrition and wind.
55 pages of information, photos and illustrations
Knowledge of the fundamentals of light interception and the influence of shade, the variety’s growth and fruiting habits, pruning and training, provide a basis for choice of tree size, shape and spacing, time and degree of pruning and training system for optimum production and efficiency.
What you will find in this manual
Management
- Importance of sunlight—interception & light distribution
Pests and Disease
- Crown Gall—facts and control
Nutrition
- How to avoid stones from splitting
- Nitrogen—when & how much to apply
- trace elements
- After harvest—stored carbohydrates and nitrogen
- Soil test & benefits of leaf & sap analysis
- Importance of soil organic matter in the supply of nutrients and soil stability
Fruit quality
- Maximise quality: colour, size, thinning
- Cropping potential (fruit/cm trunk circumference)
- Growth patterns
- Cincturing
- Thin flowers to increase fruit size
- Hand thinning, chemical thinning, mechanical thinning
- grow laterals this season for a crop next year
- Cling peaches for the cannery
Winter chilling
- Winter chill for breaking dormancy
- Chilling requirement
- Tree response to chilling
Pruning
- Heading vs thinning cuts
- The four-finger cut
- Maintain a balanced tree structure the 3:1 rule
$22.00
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$22.00