Many people want to learn how to grow potted stone fruit trees. Although at first it seems like a crazy idea, there are varieties that can be perfectly planted in a pot as long as they have the necessary care. In this case, we are going to focus on telling what are the potted peach tree care.
For this reason, in this article we are going to explain all the care of the peach tree in a pot, what its characteristics are and what aspects you must take into account so that they are healthy.
What is a dwarf peach tree
Ehe peach tree is a small fruit tree, although some varieties can reach six meters in height. Its leaves are simple, bright green, and the flowers are pink to red. The fruit is a peach, which has a heart that is a seed, and is harvested in summer. Bare-root trees can be planted in late fall or early spring, while container-grown trees can be grown year-round. Although if you have a choice, the best time to plant is in the fall.
Growing potted stone fruit trees is not impossible. It’s even largely doable, as long as you choose the right variety. Indeed, if you grow a classic peach in a pot, you will surely be quickly disappointed. When your roots feel shrunken, the tree will end up breaking the pot. Also, your fruit will be fewer and smaller than normal.
This happens because container planting requires the tree’s root system to cope with the small amount of soil available. Therefore, a variety of dwarf peach known as dwarf peach is required. The most classic are: Bonanza or Suncrest.
A dwarf peach tree is first and foremost a human creation. Dwarf fish, is actually a graft of a classic variety, known for the quality of its fruits, on the rootstock (root system) that guarantees reduced development.
So in theory, a minnow can expect to harvest 2-3kg of peaches (fairly normal size) when the tree is young and more than 5 kg when mature. In turn, its dimensions will not exceed 1,50 m high x 1 m wide.
Reasons to grow a dwarf peach tree
Here are some of the top reasons to grow a dwarf peach tree in a pot:
- Because your garden is not too small for large fruit trees, or you simply do not have a garden. A patio or balcony is enough.
- Because also you can afford to build a mini garden near the housefor example in the patio, to pick fruit when necessary. Even if you already have a garden in the ground.
- Because growing in a pot has a great advantage over growing in the ground. This advantage is due to the fact that its flowers are sensitive to frost and keeping it in a pot makes it easy to take it out of the extreme cold at the end of winter, such as against a south-facing wall. The same happens in spring, if the weather is particularly rainy and cool, store the peach tree in a dry place, which will save the foliage of the peach tree. As you probably already understand, this is of course also about removing any processing done on the tree to ultimately control the product we consume from start to finish. So, icing on the cake, you don’t need any size to bear fruit.
Potted peach tree care
Peaches are a wonderful and refreshing fruit from deciduous trees. There are currently dwarf peach varieties suitable for pot plants with high peach yields. In addition to their amazing fruit, potted peach trees provide us with beautiful flowers.
The main care of a potted peach tree is similar to that of other potted fruit trees:
- We have to put it in a sunny place. The ideal climate for a peach tree is a temperate climate with few frosts in winter, and while it is frost resistant, its fruit can be damaged by freezing.
- The ideal soil to grow the peach tree is acidic, well aerated and well drained. In spring, we have to fertilize the peach trees.
- The irrigation of this fruit tree is carried out weekly in summer and every 15 days in winter.always approximate.
- Peach trees are pruned in autumn or winter, and we must check if the fruit breaks its branches due to the weight. In this case, we will cut reducing the weight, thus avoiding possible breakage. In addition, we will do a clean cut.
- The most common pests of peach trees are the aphid, the San José louse and the red spider, in terms of diseases, powdery mildew and peach leprosy.
It is a temperate climate fruit tree and needs regular watering and fertilization. In spring, remove the first layer of substrate and replace it with fresh compost. Includes slow and complete release granular fertilizers with a small amount of compost.
When they flower, fertilize them weekly with tomato plant fertilizer. Pprotect plants from late winter and early spring rains to prevent torsion problemsand if there is a risk of frost, especially dwarf varieties, cover them with wool fibers.
Verticillium wilt is a common disease of peach trees, but it is easy to treat. It is enough to apply the necessary nutrients through specific fertilizers. Although unfortunately it is not the only disease, they can also be affected by fungal diseases such as dents, candidiasis, rust, peach yellow… and pests such as fruit flies, red spiders or aphids.
As for propagation, it can be done by seed and graft. By seed it is only used to create new varieties, since planting the fruit weakens the peach tree and shrinks the flowers. For this reason, propagation is almost always done by bud grafting on rootstocks obtained from seeds.
As you can see, there are various situations in which it is more comfortable and interesting to plant a peach tree in a pot. However, it is important to know well what its care is so that the plant can grow in good conditions. I hope that with this information you can learn more about the care of the potted peach tree.
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