Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Open Center Training
Open center training remains the standard for home orchard and commer-
cial peaches and nectarines throughout North America. This design is stand-
ard in commercial California and Texas orchards and works well in warm-
er climates, where cold injury and stem cankers are not serious problems.
In some cases, the steep ladder design we discussed for cherries (see page
size.
For open center training, plant peach and nectarine trees 18 to 24 feet
apart in rows that are 18 to 24 feet apart. In dry areas where trees are not
irrigated, space the trees 24 feet apart within and between rows.
It is easy to adapt the training and pruning practices described for apple,
pear, and sweet cherry trees to peaches and nectarines. The most popular
open center design uses three or four main scaffold branches that are evenly
distributed around the trunk to form a symmetrical bowl. Develop the lowest
branch about 18 to 30 inches above the ground, and space other branches
about 4 to 6 inches apart vertically along the trunk. Choose shoots with wide
branch angles and/or use clothespins and weights to ensure wide branch
angles. Leave the central trunk in place for now, and use it as an anchor
point for spreader bars to train the scaffolds.
As the scaffold limbs grow, select two or three strong secondary branches
on each of them, with the lowest at least 15 inches above the base of the
scaffold. Try not to use heading cuts during this stage of training. Once you
have established your secondary scaffolds, remove the central leader where
it joins with the uppermost main scaffold branch. Trees that are trained to
open centers usually mature in 5 to 6 years.
Use light to moderate annual pruning to maintain a strong, open frame-
work. Because peaches and nectarines bear their fruit on 1-year-old wood,
you need to renew the fruiting wood annually. Otherwise, fruit production
moves upward and outward, producing an overly wide, top-heavy tree that
has little fruit close to the ground. Thin out secondary scaffolds as needed
to keep the trees within a desirable height range and to maintain fruit pro-
