Dong Son peach blossoms shed leaves to welcome the Year of the Dragon 2024

At this time, garden owners in the "capital" of Dong Son peach blossoms (Tam Diep city) are rushing to carry out the steps of care, pruning, stripping leaves,... to have beautiful peach trees that bloom in time for Tet. Many experienced peach growers here affirm: "With favorable weather, this year the peach blossoms will definitely be more abundant, with bigger, more blooming and more beautiful flowers than last year."

This is an important and decisive time for gardeners to take care of and treat peach trees so that they can bloom most beautifully in time for Tet. On the hills or in home gardens, along with the main labor force in the family, many gardeners also hire additional workers to help with potting, rooting, pruning, leaf stripping, etc.

With more than 20 years of experience growing peach trees, Mr. Pham Xuan Thuy (village 6, Dong Son commune) clearly understands the timing of leaf stripping so that peach trees bloom in time for Tet. Mr. Thuy said: The leaf stripping process helps peach trees concentrate on nutrients, ensuring that buds bloom in large numbers and at the same time. Normally, leaves must be stripped about 45 days before Tet. That is the general formula, but the weather is different each year, so it is necessary to base on the actual situation to adjust accordingly. In addition, it also depends on the age of the peach tree, large old peach trees should be stripped later than small, young peach trees because old peach trees often bloom earlier than young peach trees.

Dong Son peach blossoms shed leaves to welcome the Year of the Dragon 2024 — According to Mr. Thuy, on the same peach tree, young, small branches will have their leaves stripped before the big, old peach branches to ensure the tree blooms simultaneously.

According to Mr. Thuy, this year the cold weather is late so the leaf stripping will also be done later. His family is focusing on pruning and removing dry branches, while also taking care of and fertilizing the tree for the last time to help it grow buds and buds. Thanks to his mastery of the technique, for many years now, Mr. Thuy has always had beautiful peach trees that bloom right on Tet. With 2 hectares of peach trees, his family earns about 300 million VND each year.

Owning more than 1,500 square meters of land with hundreds of peach trees, these days Mr. Pham Duy Duc (village 9, Dong Son commune) is always busy from morning to night.

Anh Duc shared: Taking care of peach trees is a year-round task. Right after Tet, we have to plow the soil, fertilize, and prune the branches, then fertilize again in the 7th and 8th lunar months. However, the busiest time is from October to the end of December, which is the time that determines whether the peach trees will have many buds and bloom in time for Tet or not. A whole year of hard work depends on this period, so it requires carefulness and careful calculation.

In addition to adjusting the flowers to bloom on time for Tet, pruning and shaping the peach tree is also one of the important steps to help increase the value of the peach tree. In recent years, peach growers in Dong Son have actively learned and improved their skills, creating many peach trees with beautiful shapes, favored by customers.

Specializing in growing perennial peach trees, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, village 5, Dong Son commune, said: To have a beautiful tree shape, you have to prune it according to standards and depending on the tree root to create the shape. The more complicated the peach shape, the more time and effort it takes, the higher the value. This year, in addition to 250 perennial peach trees (5-10 years old), to meet the diverse needs of the people, the family also launched a new product, which is white plum.

Mr. Toan affirmed that this year the weather is favorable, the rain is even, the peach trees grow and develop favorably, moreover, it is a leap year so the peach buds have a longer dormant period, surely the peach flowers will be more abundant, the flowers will be bigger, bloom more abundantly and more beautiful than last year.

Peach growing has been associated with the people of Dong Son commune for many decades. Peach trees are now not only the main crop, bringing high economic efficiency but also becoming a symbolic tree for Tam Diep land. Unlike peach trees in other regions, peach trees grown here have natural beauty, graceful branches and leaves, many buds, large petals, light pink color, so they are loved and chosen by many people to play Tet. Currently, the whole Dong Son commune has 10 peach growing villages with about 800 households working in the profession, an area of about 100 hectares.

Article and photos: Nguyen Luu

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