The peach blossom is one of the essential flowers during the Lunar New Year in Central and Northern Vietnam. However, not all peach varieties can bloom just in time for the holiday. To ensure your peach blossoms bloom perfectly for the Lunar New Year, follow these steps!
Ways to Ensure Peach Blossoms Bloom for the Lunar New Year
To care for peach trees and ensure they bloom for the Lunar New Year, intervention is needed not only during the final stages but throughout the tree’s growth process.
In addition to standard care methods such as watering, fertilizing, pest control, and pruning… to make sure the peach trees bloom for Tet, additional technical measures are necessary, such as girdling or rotating the tree, and leaf stripping.
In October to November (depending on whether it is a leap year or a regular year, and based on the tree’s growth condition), the following measures can be implemented:
Stop Fertilizing and Watering the Peach Trees
- Do not fertilize or water late (from October onwards).
- Spraying water is also an important step, as peach trees heavily depend on weather conditions. Depending on whether the weather is rainy and cold or sunny and warm, peach growers must spray warm (or cold) water to stimulate early blooming or restrain blooming to coincide with Tet.
Rotate the Peach Tree
Timing for tree rotation: Bich Peach should be rotated around the 8th lunar month, Pink Peach around the 20th of the 7th lunar month, and Thach Thon Peach around the 1st of the 7th lunar month.
How to rotate the tree: Dig a root ball 20 – 25 cm from the base and 20 – 25 cm deep (depending on the size of the tree), taking care not to break the root ball. Choose a sunny day for the rotation and do it in the morning. When rotating the tree, you can either repot it immediately or move it to another hole and pack the soil tightly around the base.
Pruning the Peach Tree
According to folk wisdom and experts, pruning usually occurs in the 8th lunar month.
First, growers will perform the pruning operation. Based on traditional knowledge and expert advice, pruning is typically done in the 8th lunar month by cutting a ring of bark from the trunk just below the branch joint. After about a week, the leaves will change from dark green to light yellow and droop slightly. If the leaves remain green, you should cut another ring of bark. After removing the bark, use a plastic bag to cover the area to prevent rainwater from pooling and causing rot.
Next, from the beginning of the 10th lunar month onwards, growers should limit the application of high-nitrogen fertilizers. Experts also recommend stopping fertilization around mid to late 11th lunar month and reducing watering in preparation for leaf stripping.
What is Leaf Stripping For?
In conjunction with girdling, leaf stripping should be done two months before Tet.
Leaf stripping is essential for ensuring beautiful blooms during the Lunar New Year. Along with girdling, leaf stripping should be conducted two months before Tet. The timing for leaf stripping depends on whether it is a leap year or not, weather conditions, and the growth strength of the tree. If stripping by hand, be careful not to damage the leaf base, as this may harm the flower buds. For potted peaches, it is advisable to dig and transplant the tree 1 – 2 months before leaf stripping. This is how to ensure peach blossoms bloom for Tet.
Girdling the Peach Tree
Girdling is a method to limit the growth of the tree, encouraging it to transition into the flowering stage.
- Timing for girdling: Different peach varieties have different girdling times: Bich Peach around the 15th of the 8th lunar month, Pink Peach around the 5th of the 8th lunar month, and Thach Thon Peach around the 1st of the 7th lunar month. Girdle strong, healthy trees that have all their leaves green and wait until weaker trees with some yellowing leaves have been girdled. Do not girdle old trees.
- How to girdle: Choose a spot on the trunk 20 – 40 cm from the base, use a sharp knife to make a complete circular cut down to the wood, twisting back and forth 2 – 3 times to create a clear girdle. Girdle in the morning on a dry day. The girdling process is only successful if, after one day, sap seeps from the girdle, and after 2 – 3 days to a week, the leaves change from dark green to light green and droop. If the leaves do not change, continue girdling with another cut above the old one. If that fails, girdle a third time.
Methods to Stimulate and Restrain Peach Trees for Blooming at the Right Time for Tet
In mid-November, if the weather is humid for an extended period, flower buds will swell, and the peach flowers may bloom early, requiring a restraint.
If you follow the previous guidelines but encounter unusual weather affecting the peach blossoms, you will need to stimulate the blooms if they are delayed. The method for stimulating delayed blooms is as follows:
In the 12th lunar month (December), if flower buds are not clearly visible and if the weather is cold for over seven days (below 10 degrees Celsius), you should stimulate the flowers by refraining from watering for several days, then thoroughly watering with warm water (40 – 50 degrees Celsius) around the base of the peach tree, watering 5 – 6 times daily, while also covering the tree with plastic and using electric lights at night, and spraying with foliar fertilizers such as Dau Trau 901, 902 to encourage blooming just in time for Tet.
In mid-November, if the humid weather persists, causing flower buds to swell and potentially bloom early, you need to restrain them by creating a shade structure using black mesh and regularly spraying cold water on the entire tree, mixing urea fertilizer at a 1% concentration to spray on the trunk and leaves or watering with cold water. Use a knife to girdle one or more rings around the branches and trunk to limit nutrient transport to the tree, inhibiting growth, similar to the initial girdling, while also pruning off 10 – 12% of the root system around the base. This way, the peach blossoms will bloom right on time for the Lunar New Year.
Some Notes for Those Buying Peach Trees for Tet Decoration
Potted peaches need regular watering; whenever the soil on the pot’s surface is dry, it must be watered.
When placing them in a vase, replace the water every 2 – 3 days and add an aspirin to each water change to reduce bacteria that can rot stems and flowers. If you want the peaches to bloom faster, keep them in a closed room with lights and incense. If you want to slow down the blooming, add ice to the vase and place it in a well-ventilated area, taking it outside on the balcony at night.
Potted peaches need regular watering; whenever the soil on the pot’s surface is dry, it must be watered. However, do not overwater, as this can lead to root rot and toxic gases, and the tree may die quickly.
Avoid placing the peach tree near fans or in drafty areas, as this can dehydrate the tree, causing buds and flowers to drop prematurely. Also, do not place the peach tree in overly dark areas as it will not receive enough light for photosynthesis, leading to rapid leaf growth, pale flowers, and early bud drop.
If, when purchasing your peach tree, it still has many leaves close to Tet, with undeveloped buds that may not bloom in time for the holiday, you can strip some leaves again to stimulate faster bud development. Leaf stripping helps focus the tree’s nutrients on bud growth rather than leaf development. When stripping leaves, be careful to preserve the flower buds at the leaf axils. Only remove individual leaves, and avoid stripping directly from the top down to prevent damaging the flower buds. After leaf stripping, spray with foliar fertilizer Dau Trau 701 or mix potassium with warm water to water the peach tree, encouraging bud and flower development, resulting in larger blooms with thicker petals and more vibrant colors.
One effective method to accelerate blooming is through light exposure. You can place the flower vase in a well-lit area or near a light source. Many flower gardens use this method to ensure flowers bloom or bud more abundantly as Tet approaches.
