Pot cultivation techniques for propagation of ornamental peach blossoms and control of diseases and insect pests

Pot cultivation techniques for propagation of ornamental peach blossoms and control of diseases and insect pests

Ornamental peach blossom refers to the variety for ornamental purpose. Compared with edible peach, it has the characteristics of larger flowers, more petals, beautiful flower shape, rich flower color, longer flowering period and so on. Except for a few varieties, ornamental peach blossoms generally do not bear fruit, even if they bear fruit, the fruit is not edible, and the fruit color is not good and the size is small. But its bright and brilliant flowers are a symbol of spring and an indispensable ornamental plant in spring.

Ornamental peach blossoms can be planted alone, clustered, planted in courtyards, squares, roadsides, near buildings, or planted with willows to form a "peach red willow green" landscape effect; potted plants can also watch or make bonsai. In addition, its branches can be cut off to make cut flowers or vases to watch.

Variety characteristics

Ornamental peach blossom is a small deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Prunus in Rosaceae. The branches open or droop or grow straight upward according to the variety, and the branchlets are reddish brown or green brown; there are gray pilose on the buds; leaves are oval-lanceolate, apex acuminate, margin serrulate, and the leaves are purple in addition to green. Flowers are solitary or 2 are born in leaf axils, blooming with leaves or slightly earlier than leaves, with white, pink, scarlet, crimson, purplish red and other colors. Some varieties can produce flowers of different colors on the same plant, and even there are two different color spots and markings on one flower. Its flower pattern can be divided into five categories:

Single petal: 5 petals, the flower pattern is relatively flat

Plum blossom type: 20-25 petals, shaped like plum blossoms

Rose type: after the flower opens, the outer petals turn outward and the inner petals are wrapped inside, such as a small rose.

Peony type: with more than 40 petals, the whole flower looks like a flower ball, quite like a peony flower.

Chrysanthemum type: petals are thin and many, shaped like chrysanthemums.

The flowering period of peach blossoms varies from region to region. In warmer areas such as Guangdong and Guangxi, they can bloom before and after the Spring Festival, or even earlier, while the colder areas in the north do not bloom until April to May.

Among the ornamental peaches, the most widely cultivated and rich variety is Bitao, including sprinkled Jinbi peach, birthday star blue peach, weeping blue peach, red blue peach, purple leaf green peach, white flower blue peach, thousand peach, two-color blue peach, colorful blue peach, human face peach and so on. There are other ornamental peach blossoms such as broom peach, mountain peach and so on.

Reproduction method

The propagation of ornamental peach blossoms is mainly by grafting, and the annual seedlings of hairy peach, mountain peach and apricot can be used as rootstocks, or the annual branches germinated on the stump of old peach trees that have grown for many years can be used as rootstocks, and the branches or buds of peach blossoms can be used as scions. In order to increase the ornamental quality, different varieties of ornamental peach blossoms can be grafted on one plant to make them blossom in different colors and shapes.

1. Split joint

Branch grafting, also known as branch grafting, is carried out before spring germination. the scion uses the strong and substantial branches of the previous year, and the rootstock is required to be about 1.2 cm thick. Cut off the branches on the ground, split a small crack from the middle of the rootstock, and cut the lower end of the ornamental peach blossom scion into a bevel with a sharp knife to combine it with the rootstock seam, and then bind it with plastic rope and bury it with soil pile, so that the growth can be restored in a month or so.

two。 Bud grafting

This is the most commonly used propagation method of peach blossoms, which is carried out from May to August every year, and the rootstock is required to be smooth and sturdy, with a diameter of about 1.5 cm; the buds on the middle branches of peach blossoms in the same year are used as scions, and when choosing buds, choose leaf buds with a sharper shape, only such buds can be successfully branched after grafting, while those with round bulges and more white silk hairs are flower buds, which cannot be selected. When grafting, first cut it with a sharp knife on the top and bottom of the scion bud, then cut two knives vertically on the back of the bud, and then forcefully pick out the 0.3 cm thick skin, which is called "appearance". Then, according to the size of "appearance", at the strong bud position on the rootstock, the bud piece is also deducted, and then the bud piece on the scion is buckled. The buds on the scion can also be cut into a "T" shape, and the rootstock can also be cut into a "T" cut, and the buds can be inserted into the incision to make them coincide with each other. Finally, it is tied up from top to bottom with Ma Pi or plastic rope, exposing only petioles and buds. Binding should not be too tight, so as not to damage the buds. If the color of the bud remains the same after 10 days, it means that it has survived.

For the grafted plants, the new buds germinated on the rootstocks should be wiped off in time, and the branches on the rootstocks should be cut off. For the budded plants, when the buds are grafted and branched about 10 cm, the rootstocks should be cut from 1.5 cm to 2 cm above the grafted buds. These measures are to prevent the branches of rootstocks from dispersing nutrients and promote the growth of scions.

Cultivation and management

Ornamental peach blossoms are native to China, distributed in North, Central and Southwest provinces, and are introduced and cultivated all over the world. Like warm, humid and sunny environment, resistant to cold, but afraid of waterlogging. It is suitable to grow in loose and fertile sandy soil with good drainage and avoid alkaline soil and clayey soil.

1. Land planting management

Ornamental peach blossoms planted on the ground can be planted in places with sufficient sunshine and good ventilation, and can be planted in embankments, sunny slopes, lawns, roadside green belts, residential areas, gardens and other places, but they should not be planted under trees with larger crowns, so as not to affect ventilation and light permeability. it is also not suitable to plant in low-lying water, so as not to cause rotten roots due to stagnant water.

(1) transplanting: ornamental peach blossoms are transplanted with soil balls after falling leaves in early spring or autumn, for young trees without soil balls, but with mud on the roots, and when transplanting big trees, soil balls must be taken to improve the survival rate, and planting pits should be dug a little larger, and fully rotten farm manure, cake fertilizer and so on should be used as base fertilizer and watered once after planting. Peach trees with large crowns are fixed with support frames to avoid shaking the plants back and forth when the wind blows, which will adversely affect the survival and growth of peach trees in the future.

(2) watering: ornamental peach blossoms planted on the ground can be watered with frozen water and frozen water respectively in early spring and late autumn, and should be properly watered if drought persists in high temperature in summer. In case of dry and hot wind, it is also necessary to spray water to the environment around the plant to increase air humidity. Pay attention to drainage in the rainy season, do not make the soil water, so as to avoid rotting roots. Ornamental peach blossoms like drought and are afraid of dampness, so we should pay attention to ploughing and loosening the soil, preserve soil moisture and eliminate weeds.

(3) fertilization: ornamental peach blossoms usually apply mature organic fertilizer before and after flowering and after autumn. When applying fertilizer, you can dig a trench about 35 cm on one side of the trunk, apply fertilizer, cover the soil, and then water it. In the second year, you will open a ditch to fertilize on the other side of the trunk, so that it rotates every year, and with the growth of the plant, the distance between the trunk and the trunk increases year by year. If the available phosphorus and potassium fertilizer is applied twice from June to July, it can promote the formation of flower buds.

(4) pruning: the main purpose of the pruning of adult ornamental peach blossoms is to control the plant height, maintain the beauty of the tree shape, restrain the apical dominance, promote the growth of lower branches and the formation of flower buds, and make the plant grow evenly. The tree type of ornamental peach blossom is mainly natural happy shape, first carry on a small pruning before blooming in spring, cut off the branches that affect the beautiful shape of the tree, so that it has a beautiful tree shape when it blossoms. After flowering, a large pruning is carried out to control the long branches and maintain the perfect shape of the tree. when pruning, cut the side branches properly, and then cut off the disease and insect branches, bore branches, dead branches, long branches and cross branches in combination with shaping to make the crown plump and round, and always keep the crown well ventilated and transparent, cut short the branches that have passed through the flower, leaving only 2 or 3 buds at the base, and these branches should be peeled off in time when they grow to about 30 cm. In summer, when the branches are too prosperous, we should also pick the heart in time, in order to promote the full axillary buds and form more flower branches, which is conducive to flower bud differentiation.

two。 Potted plant management

Potted peach blossoms with short plants, short internodes, compact crown and graceful plant shape should be used in pot after falling leaves in autumn or before flowering in spring. One part of rotten leaf soil, one part of garden soil and one part of river sand can be used as mixed soil, and a small amount of retting cake fertilizer, bone meal or calcium superphosphate is added as base fertilizer. Usually watering should not be too much, "no dry, no watering, watering thoroughly" is the best choice, autumn should control water and fertilizer, in order to prevent autumn shoot germination, promote the Lignification of branches, is conducive to safe overwintering. Winter moves to the cold room or overwintering in the outdoor shelter from the wind and the sun, watering can be seen dry and wet. Change the pot every spring, cut off the withered root, rotten root and overdense root, and replant it with the new culture soil.

The pruning of potted ornamental peach blossoms is basically the same as that of ground ornamental peach blossoms. During pruning, attention should be paid to control the plant height and make the branch distribution reasonable in order to shape a beautiful tree shape.

Florescence control

In the north, the natural flowering period of ornamental peach blossoms is from March to April. If necessary, pot ornamental peach blossoms can be used to make them blossom in New Year's Day and Spring Festival. The method is that when ornamental peach blossoms fall leaves, put them in a low temperature environment of about 7 ℃. 40-45 days before the Spring Festival, they will be moved indoors, giving a room temperature of 5: 10 ℃, and then gradually raising the temperature to 20: 25 ℃. Pay attention to sprinkling water on the branches every day to prevent the branches from withering and promoting the buds to bloom. If the bud cracks ahead of time, it should be moved to a low temperature chamber of about 15 ℃ in time, which can effectively delay the flowering time of the plant.

Pest control

The disease resistance of ornamental peach blossoms is weak, and the diseases that are easy to occur are brown spot, leaf shrinkage, tree trunk gum disease and so on, all of which are caused by pathogen infection. Chlorothalonil and carbendazim can be sprayed 700 times, and attention should be paid to both sides of the leaves when spraying.

The pests of ornamental peach blossoms are aphids, shell insects, red spiders, diamondback moths (commonly known as "spicy seeds"), leaf curling moths, etc., which can be killed with relevant pesticides, but it should be noted that ornamental peach blossoms should not use dimethoate, otherwise they will cause drug damage and cause leaves to yellowing and falling off. The methods of comprehensive control of dried longicorn beetles and other pests are as follows: trapping adults with light, cutting off branches, injecting wormholes with 50-100 times liquid trichlorfon solution, or blocking wormholes with medicine mud or poison label.