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Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 9:43
| Well, I think I am going to experiment with one of the higher density V systems for peach orchards. I have some 20+ year old peach trees in the open vase system and need to plan for their eventual demise/replacement and for more varieties. This spring I planted 3 new trees (one nect, 2 peach) in a row, each 24 ft apart, planning at the time for the open vase training. Each now has a few well-oriented suitable branches from 24-36 inches above ground to select scaffolds from. Now after reading several articles about the Perpendicular V and the Quad V training systems I want to change my plans so I can squeeze in more varieties, spread out my harvest time, extend my season and probably better manage my little orchard with more uniform pruning. I want to hold the height to 8-9 ft high to minimize the need for a ladder. My goals are to freeze and can several bushels of peaches to enjoy the rest of the year, share a lot with friends and family, and enjoy stuffing myself with fresh homegrown peaches for as long a period as possible :) I see four choices in my plans: 1.) to use the Perpendicular V with 2 scaffolds per tree and next year add 2 new trees between each of the existing just-planted ones at 8 ft spacing, or 2.) add 3 new trees between each at 6 foot spacing. The Perpendicular V system in a commercial orchard calls for 6 ft spacing, but I wonder if I will not prune aggressively enough and crowd them. The other 2 choices are to use the Quad V system with 4 scaffolds per tree (the official recommendation is 9 ft spacing in the row) and 3.) add one tree between each existing tree at 12 ft spacing, or 4.) add two trees between each at 8 ft spacing-pushing the crowding aspect a little, which I assume is not impossible to manage in my home orchard setting. I will also plan to extend this row next year(or the next) another 48 foot distance to the end of my property, giving me lots of room to add even more trees and varieties. I would like to avoid a trellis system if possible, but would go to that extra work and expense if absolutely needed. Any advice from those experienced with these systems? Or more experienced with peaches? I have only experience with the open vase system for peaches, but I think I understand peach pruning for fruiting wood replacement and thinning of fruits pretty well. Ed Boone |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by veggievicki 7b (My Page) on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 17:13
| I'm impressed that you have 20 year old peach trees! |
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| I have a Raritan Rose(23y since planting), Encore and Hale Haven(20y each), and an unknown white peach (18y) as my old timers. The Raritan Rose's bark is cracked and unhealthy looking and has lost some braches yearly the past couple years and has lost it's vigor, but still carrying a small crop of fruit this year (can't wait for the first week of Aug!!). The others are still looking pretty good and bearing well. But they are not going to last forever. |
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B-7A-MD (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 10:56
| Hi Ed, I have many dense peach plantings but I don't follow any particular system. The main thing is to have a good ability to estimate how much light is coming into the tree and to thin limbs accordingly. Fruits that don't have any light nearby will not size up and you don't want a lot of dead space in the middle of the tree. I have found peaches easy to grow in anywhere from 3' to 6' spacing, because I do a whole lot of pruning, year-round. Scott |
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| Thanks for your reply Scott. I wondered how you in particular planted and maintained your large fruit collection. I realize that there are probably several ways to do a dense planting for peaches. With the need to renew fruiting wood yearly requiring more intense and different pruning than other fruits, I think that the yearly maintenance pruning on a V system looks pretty straightforward, easier to understand. I would not need to evaluate light penetration. The hardest thing might be holding to about 7 ft max height. I'm going to try BYOC bush-style pruning on a peach on Citation as well as some new plums I planted this yr-maybe it would be good for me do the quad-V on some peaches to do a comparison for a few yrs. |
This post was edited by eboone on Fri, Jun 28, 13 at 17:21
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