Establish and Evaluate a Two-Dimensional Peach Training System Using Three Different Peach Rootstocks and Three Different In-Row Spacings

View the project final report

Commodities

• Fruits: peaches

Practices

• Crop Production: cropping systems
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns

Peach growing systems and peach productivity have been stagnant in Illinois. Labor costs in peach are high, and prices received have not kept pace. The industry is small, with minimal in-state extension and research support. Agronomy is king here. Projects of this nature will never happen n Illinois without private effort. Year Two update--My objective was to establish all vertical leaders of roughly the same diameter in two seasons; then rootstock and in row spacings would be observed to find the best combination that would meet the goal.In spring of 2025,I removed every other tree in the four foot tree spacing to see if I could meet the vertical numbers with less nursery stock.Results? I obtained 95% fill of the vertical shoots at the 6 foot in-row space across all rootstocks. With 8 foot spacings, I could not fill the the vertical shoots (every 24 inches), and uniformity was a bigger problem. Over time, the rootstock effects on vigor will likely be more pronounced; a grower would weigh the plus of high vigor in the establishment phase, versus the negatives of mature high vigor, which include excessive pruning costs and loss of fruit qu. Add in the factors of soil quality and irrigation, and it becomes impossible for one answer for all situations. To fully evaluate yield, quality, tree health etc. is a 10 year project The first crop is summer 2026.

150 peach trees will be planted at in-row spacings of 4-5-6 feet, with a 12 feet alley width for machinery and harvesting operations. All peach trees are grafted on rootstocks; I will use  Controller 6, Lovell, and Krymsk 86, each having a different level of vigor. Standard commercial varieties will be used. A three-wire trellis will be constructed, which serves as both a training aid and support for fruit loads. Trees will be trained  in a two-dimensional configuration along the wires. Each planted tree will have from 4-6 vertical permanent leaders spaced at two-feet intervals along the wire, each having the capacity to hold 26-28 fruits. On an acre basis, there would be 1800 leaders, giving a crop potential of 500 bushels per acre. The attached image shows the design .Using summer and dormant pruning, the canopy width is held to 4-5 feet. What problems are potentially solved? We can get more bushels (500?) of of more highly colored and flavorful fruit by increased exposure to the sun.  The narrow canopy increases this exposure, which can also increase flowering of peach. Tree height can be more easily controlled with dwarfing rootstocks and multiple leaders on each tree planted. Height reduction in tree fruit always results in less ladder work and smaller, lower horsepower machinery use. The labor requirements for  pruning, fruit thinning, and harvesting, the "big three" in labor, are all reduced in shorter trees with thinner canopies..Clearly, all  the project objectives cannot be reached in two years. What we can achieve in two years is the ability to create a two-dimensional  canopy and evaluate the rootstocks and tree spacings. The" right" combination of rootstock and tree spacing can be elusive. The last objective is to have good detail on establishment cost. Currently, peaches are being planted at wider spacings without trellis support.