Peach blossom is the flower of a perennial tree of the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family.

The trunk is grey-brown, the leaves are oval-lanceolate, the single leaves are alternate, the edges have fine serrations, the flowers are solitary, the first leaves are open, the drupe is nearly spherical, and the flowering period is 3 —April, fruiting period from June to September.

Peach blossom propagation is mainly done by grafting, and cutting or shield bud grafting is often used. Peach (a semi-cultivated type of peach) is primarily used as rootstock in East China, while mountain peach is used in the north. However, peach trees grafted with peach or mountain peach rootstocks have the disadvantage of being short in age and prone to many diseases and insect pests.

If apricot is used as the rootstock, grafting will be more laborious. The initial growth is slightly slow, but the life span is long, with few pests and diseases. Rootstock seeds can be sown in autumn, or the seeds can be layered with wet sand after autumn and taken out for sowing in early spring of the following year. When sowing, the row spacing is usually 40 to 50 cm, the plant spacing is 10 to 20 cm, the furrow is 5 cm, and one seed is placed at each location.

When sowing in spring, if the buds have sprouted, cover the young buds with soil. Bud grafting is mainly carried out from July to August. It is better to use full-grown annual seedlings as rootstocks. Biennial rootstocks can also be used reluctantly.

The survival rate of bud grafting is very high, mostly above 95%; if it often fails to germinate that year, check it once in the spring. If the bud grafting survives, the root buds will be removed to make the peach blossom scion sprout. If it does not stay, bud grafting can be used to propagate it.

Peach Blossom Maintenance Points

Watering peach blossoms:

Don’t water them dry. Water them appropriately to prevent water accumulation from causing root rot.

Spray a new high-fat film to adjust the amount of water absorbed. Peach trees are afraid of waterlogging, so they need to keep drainage smooth in summer, especially during heavy rains, and do an excellent job dredging ditches. Drainage work must also be done well when planting peach blossoms at home.

Peach blossom pruning:

Peach blossoms are the axillary buds of annual plump peaches. They differentiate into flower buds in July and habitually bloom in the second spring. Therefore, attention should be paid to pruning. Young peaches mainly grow peach crowns. Prune them in time after blooming. Only keep two or three buds at the base of the flower branches and cut off the rest.

In summer, top off overgrown branches to promote the formation of flower buds. Excessive pruning should be avoided for plants that are not growing well; the strong and the weak should be restrained, and branches should be distributed evenly to create a beautiful plant shape.

Repot peach blossoms:

Repot them once every spring.

Peach blossoms have excellent practical value, both as food and medicinal. It has also been made into peach blossom cakes, peach blossom pills, peach blossom tea, and other foods with therapeutic value, such as dredging meridians and moisturizing the skin.