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Hundreds of stone fruit varieties are grown in the San Joaquin Valley of California and shipped to many locations around the world. This section provides a brief description of the main varieties grown in recent years.
Keeping nutrients within a certain range is important for proper tree growth and optimum fruit quality. Both deficiencies and excesses of any nutrient can lead to serious problems.
Nemaguard has been the standard rootstock in California peach, plum and nectarine orchards for many years. Recently, a variety of new rootstocks have become available from numerous breeding programs around the world. This section provides information on the characteristics of these stocks.
Peach, plum and nectarine varieties generally set more fruit than can be grown to a desired size, and thus need to be thinned. The common practice is to do this by hand, which can be very expensive.
Water is a precious commodity in California agriculture. We have conducted a number of research projects to figure out how irrigation water can be conserved in peach orchards. Our first objective has been to determine the precise water use of peach orchards using a large weighing lysimeter.
Trunk or scaffold girdling is performed on early season peaches and nectarines to increase fruit size, advance maturity and reduce the number of harvests. It is most effective when the seed length in the fruit is about 10 mm (3/8"), which generally occurs around one month after bloom.
Pruning is an essential, although expensive, procedure in stone fruit orchards. In order to optimize this practice, we have conducted many research projects over the past 30 years and have come to two main conclusions. First, trees should be minimally pruned in the first couple of years.
Regular leaf sampling for nutrients can be a valuable tool for diagnosing nutritional problems in the orchard and also evaluating the effectiveness of one's fertilization program.
