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Peaches or nectarines are the perfect summer snack! Crunchy, oh-so juicy and full of flavour, these bite-sized fruits can be eaten whole (except for the stone, of course!), added fresh to your muesli or fruit salads. They’re ideal when they’re picked just ripe, so it’s a great reason to grow your own. And in case you’re wondering, peaches and nectarines are basically the same fruit – peach is the ‘furry’ form.
They grow best in cool climates as they require a certain number of chilling hours, but there are varieties available now that allow them to also grow in warmer areas. Check the label before purchasing to see if it’s right for your garden.
How to grow peaches & nectarines in your garden
- Choose a sunny spot with well drained soil. Enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. If the soil is clay based, add gypsum and fork in well.
- Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.
- Position in hole and backfill, gently firming down. Form a raised ring around the plant, creating a well so that water will go where it’s needed most. Water in well.
- Mulch around the base with organic mulch like sugarcane or pea straw, keeping it away from the trunk.
- Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions.
- Feed your tree in autumn and late summer with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. When flowering and fruiting, feed weekly with Yates Thrive Natural Citrus Liquid Plant Food to help promote fruit production.
How to grow peaches and nectarines in a pot
Nectarines can be grown in pots, but look for the dwarf varieties, such as Dwarf White Gold (peach) or Dwarf Tuscany (nectarine)- they’re sensational space savers!
- Choose a pot at least 600mm wide. Position in full sun and fill with quality potting mix, such as Yates Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter.
- Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.
- Position in hole and backfill, gently firming down. Water in well.
- Mulch with an organic mulch, such as bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw ensuring to keep it away from the trunk.
- Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions.
- Feed your tree in autumn and late summer with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. When flowering and fruiting, feed weekly with Yates Thrive Natural Citrus Liquid Plant Food to help promote fruit production.
Growing tips
Heavily prune in winter to help open up the centre, to create an open vase-shape to allow more light and air to circulate. Once this framework is established, you should only need to remove dead, weak and crowded branches in the future.
- In the early stages of cropping, remove excess fruit – they can be rubbed off – so that the remaining fruit will grow to a good size.
- Peaches and nectarines bear fruit on laterals (shoots) produced the previous summer. Laterals fruit for one season only, so there must be plenty of new ones coming on each year for continuous cropping.
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Yates Thrive Natural Citrus & Fruit Concentrate
A complete plant food specially developed for boosting healthy growth and yield of juicy fruit in citrus and other fruiting plants
Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser
Create organic nutrient rich soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter for better root growth, stronger plants and more flowers and fruit.
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