Nghe An people focus on 'preventing' peach blossoms from blooming early

These days, peach growers in the areaNghe Anare restless because peach trees have begun to bloom more than a month before Tet. While in mountainous districts, people often let peach trees bloom naturally, in lowland districts, peach gardeners are focusing on care and implementing measures to prevent peach trees from blooming in time for Tet.

Many peach trees in the suburban communes of Vinh have bloomed even though Tet is still more than a month away. Photo: QA

These days, Mr. Nguyen Van Huynh, Kim Nghia hamlet, Nghi An commune (Vinh city) is busy taking care of his family's nearly 200 peach trees for Tet. Some of his peach trees have bloomed since mid-November of the lunar calendar, so the remaining trees must be restrained or they will bloom before Tet.

Mr. Huynh shared: This year the weather is warmer, although it is almost the end of the year, there are not many cold spells like previous years, so the family's peach trees have also bloomed earlier. Besides consulting the media, he often delays the blooming of peach trees based on his experience of growing peach trees for more than 30 years, which is to use a sharp object such as a knife, scissors and a ring around the peach tree trunk about 10 - 15 cm from the base. This method will cause nutrients to be absorbed from the base, the roots will focus on recovering the cut, limiting the supply to the branches, thereby causing the flowering time to be 10 - 15 days later.

"However, depending on the type of peach, age and weather conditions, choose the location and time to ring the tree, otherwise it will affect the growth of the peach tree." - Mr. Huynh emphasized.

According to Mr. Huynh's experience, ringing the peach tree trunk will cause the peach tree to bloom 10 - 15 days later. Photo: QA

Mrs. Bach Thi Thu's family in Nghi An commune also has more than 100 peach trees to sell for Tet. Besides ringing the peach trees, Mrs. Thu also focuses on stripping the peach leaves at the right time so that the flowers bloom on time. Mrs. Thu said: "Peach trees are deciduous trees that lose their leaves every winter. After the leaves fall, the flower buds develop and grow quickly. Therefore, to have beautiful flowers during Tet, you have to strip the leaves a while in advance, long or short depending on the variety, the tree is strong or weak, young or old... In previous years, I usually strip the leaves in the middle of the 11th lunar month, however this year is warmer, so I start stripping the leaves from the 20th of the 11th lunar month onwards, ensuring that the peach trees will start to bud after the 20th of the 12th lunar month..."

Nghi An commune is considered the capital of peach blossoms for Tet in the suburbs of Vinh. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, an agricultural officer of Nghi An commune, said: "The whole commune currently has more than 300 households growing peach blossoms, concentrated in Kim Nghia, Kim Binh, Kim Chi, Kim Dong hamlets, of which Kim Nghia has the most with 200 households. On average, each year the commune supplies the market with 10,000 peach trees for Tet. Because the peach blossoms bloomed earlier this year, people are currently focusing on slowing down the blooming of peach blossoms using traditional methods."

Stripping peach leaves at the right time is also an important measure to determine the blooming time of the flowers. Photo: QA

Not only in Vinh City but also in other peach growing areas in Nghe An, people are also taking care of the peach trees so that they bloom at the right time.Nam Dan districtPeach trees are mainly grown in Nam Xuan, Nam Anh and Khanh Son communes with thousands of trees.

Mr. Nguyen Khanh Hung - Vice Chairman of Nam Xuan Commune People's Committee said: In the commune, there are currently nearly 200 households growing peach trees, concentrated in hamlets 10 and 11, households with large plantings have from 200 to 500 trees, planted in gardens and on hillsides. Due to the warm and sunny weather this year, peach trees in some households have bloomed, many people are worried about losing their crops.

Besides preventing peach blossoms from blooming early, garden owners are focusing on pruning and shaping to bring quality peach trees to the market for the upcoming Tet holiday. Photo: QA

"Currently, the method of slowing down peach blossoms in Nam Xuan commune is still mainly applying traditional measures such as limiting fertilization and watering in the last months. In addition, in the warm and sunny weather, people have also prepared trellises and roofs to reduce light and heat to slow down peach blossoms..." - Mr. Hung added.