Shortening laterals of peach and nectarine trees in winter, cuts fruit thinning cost and renews fruiting wood.
Peach and nectarine trees will always set more fruit than the trees can size.
For most orchardists, thinning peach and nectarine trees is one of the most expensive yearly orchard operations.
It does not need to be, if you prune your trees correctly in winter and shorten the laterals.
Good laterals
Good laterals are about 300 to 400 mm long, are between 6 and 7 mm thick at the base and have many triple buds (two flower buds with a leaf bud in between).
Most of these laterals will set between 8 and 15 fruit.
Depending on the time of maturity, you should thin the laterals to an average of one, two or three fruit per lateral (see Prune for large peaches and nectarines next issue).
Shortening the laterals by half, reduces the fruit load by at least 50 per cent.
More importantly, if you shorten laterals, they will generate new laterals for next year.
Since peach and nectarine trees bear fruit only on maiden (new) laterals, you need not only think about the present crop, but also ensure that you will get a crop the following year.
Laterals that are not shortened often bend under the weight of the fruit and fail to generate new laterals. They become spent laterals which have to be removed in winter.
For more information and photos, see the Dec 2012 Tree Fruit
