Soil management of peach trees in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria

Abstract

A soil management trial on peach trees at Tatura Horticultural Research Station included four treatments that were cultivated, three permanent sods, a bare surface, and a straw mulch. The trees under straw mulch grew the largest and produced the highest yields (11.4 tons an acre a year over five years). Yields of all other treatments were similar (7.8 tons an acre a pear over five years) although the trees under clean cultivation and bare surface tended to be larger than the rest. The results are discussed in terms of competition from summer covers, tree root growth in the surface soil, and the utilization of irrigation water.